


Deja Brew

by SuddenlySullen



Category: Deadpool - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - No Powers, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Masturbation, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, Underage Peter Parker
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-28
Updated: 2018-07-29
Packaged: 2019-05-29 23:35:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 30
Words: 36,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15084206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuddenlySullen/pseuds/SuddenlySullen
Summary: Peter is working at a coffee shop after school for some spare cash. Wade is looking for somewhere to find a decent caffeinated drink. Somehow, the unlikely pair become friends and maybe something more...





	1. Monday

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AerdrieFaenya](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AerdrieFaenya/gifts).



Peter sighed as he walked out of his last class of the day and headed towards the bus stop. He always dreaded the end of the day as much as he looked forward to it. On the one hand, he got to escape the torment of listening to morons try to comprehend something as basic as Shakespeare. On the other hand, he had to go to work and deal with stuffy people in suits with egos so big he was surprised they didn’t get stuck in the door on the way in. He popped his headphones in at the bus stop and leaned up against the outside of it rather than sit down inside. There was only one other person waiting for the bus, a large man in a hoodie that covered his whole face. Peter had stopped being intimidated by people at the bus stop long ago, but he had spent his whole day interacting with people and was about to spend his whole evening doing the same thing, so he always tried to take any opportunity to listen to his podcasts and be left alone with his own thoughts.

Today’s selection was a piece by the (in)famous Tony Stark on the implications of having the ability to mass-produce miniature arc reactors, something that his company was the first to attempt. He seemed to think that he could solve the entire world’s energy problems in a decade or two with his new invention. Peter shook his head and let out a snort. Arc reactors were notoriously unstable. There was no way it was going to work, but if there was anyone in the world that could pull it off it would be Tony Stark. He wondered passively if he should apply for the Stark Industries summer internship program, but pushed the idea aside as the bus pulled up to the stop.

The man sitting in the stop’s shelter made no move to get up, so Peter assumed he was waiting for the next bus or homeless and asleep and jumped up the steps two at a time. The bus was packed, so Peter stood and held onto one of the metal poles rather than look around for somewhere to sit. He was getting off soon anyway. To his surprise, the hoodie-wearing man appeared next to him and grabbed onto the same pole. Peter looked up to give him a polite smile and realized why the hood was pulled up all the way. The man looking down at him had gorgeous, piercing blue eyes, but his face was scarred all over. His jawline looked like it could have been chiseled out of stone. His mouth was in a firm line, betraying no hint as to what he could possibly be thinking. Peter reminded himself that it was rude to stare and dropped his chin once again, trying to focus on Tony Stark’s words ringing in his ears. 

Focusing so hard on not studying the man towering over him, Peter didn’t even realize the driver was slamming on the breaks until he was tossed into the very many whose eyes he was avoiding. He was just as solid as he looked, not moving an inch when Peter flew into his chest. Peter’s headphones dropped out of his ears and he looked up at the man again.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, standing back up.

“No problem, kid,” the man replied.

Peter felt his cheeks flush at the fact that he was called ‘kid’ by a man he was shamelessly checking out no more than three minutes prior. He thought he caught the slightest hint of a smile on the man’s face which made him blush even deeper. As they approached his stop, he felt the inexplicable urge to look back up at the man, but forced himself to keep his eyes on the bus doors, practically throwing himself down the steps as soon as they opened. 

He trotted into work at what he and his coworkers referred to as the worst coffee shop in Queens, though it was actually called ‘Deja Brew’. When he made it to the break him, he finally remembered to breathe and set his backpack down on the couch that none of them dared sit on. He was in the middle of pulling his work shirt and apron out when the door behind him opened.

“Heya Tiger!” Gwen bounced into the room and hopped up onto the table. “How was your day?”

“Same old nonsense. You know how high school is.” Peter smiled and looked her over.

“So glad I’m done with that shit.” She rolled her eyes, “I gotta go back, I just wanted to see what was up. You looked like a ghost when you blew in here. Didn’t even say hi to me.”

“Oh! There was a hot guy on the bus.” Peter blushed again, remembering how much of a fool of himself he had made.

“Details, Peter Parker! I demand details the second we have a spare moment!” She threw her head back and laughed before hopping off the table. She leaned down and gave Peter a quick kiss on the cheek.

“You got it, babe.” Peter smiled as she made her way back out to the counter.

He tossed off his shirt from school and put on his work shirt, making a mental note that it was probably time to wash this one. It smelled vaguely of stale coffee beans and sweat, which he assumed was not something people wanted to smell when they ordered their coffee. 

When he walked back out onto the floor, he nearly walked straight into the man from the bus as he was heading towards the bathrooms. Peter felt his eyes go wide and his face flush in embarrassment. He did the only thing he could think of and piped up a quick, “Welcome to Deja Brew,” before slipping past him and to the counter.

He leaned in next to Gwen at the espresso machine and whispered in her ear. “He’s here.”

“Who’s here?” She whipped her head around, scanning the coffee shop for anyone she might know.

“Don’t look!” Peter swatted at her side. “The guy from the bus!”

“The hot guy that got your panties all in a knot?” She raised an eyebrow at him.

“My panties are not in a knot,” he realized how loud his voice was and brought it back down to a whisper, “I nearly walked straight into him. And I fell on him on the bus. I’m such a dweeb.”

“Did you get his number?” Gwen tried to control her giggles, but failed. Miserably.

“No I did not get his number,” Peter sputtered. “He called me ‘kid’.”

“Well don’t act like such a kid.” She laughed again and turned around with the espresso she had finished making. She handed it off to a woman in a pantsuit and waved her out with a “Have a brew-tiful day!” Turning to Peter she said, much quieter so the remaining customers sitting around the shop couldn’t hear, “The puns are going to kill me.”

“The puns are the only redeeming factor of this job,” Peter smiled.

Gwen nodded her head towards the hallway that led to the bathrooms, “Is that him? The weird hoodie guy? How inconsiderate. Doesn’t he know we want to gossip about how pretty he is?”

Peter’s face went scarlet again and he started to look around for something to busy himself with when Gwen tossed her apron at him.

“I’m going on break,” she smiled. “Hold down the fort.”

Peter’s mouth fell open as she walked off without even a second glance back at him. Turning to face his bus acquaintance, he brought forward a polite smile and tried to will himself to stop blushing. He assumed that his intent focus on not blushing was, in fact, actually making the blush deepen in color. 

“Welcome to Deja Brew,” he felt his voice shaking as he spoke. “What can I get for you today?”


	2. Monday (cont.)

Wade shook his head and laughed to himself about the poor kid he had scared on the bus and then again in the coffee shop. It had been a long time since he cared that people were weirded out by his scars. Now he mostly wore the hoodie because was tired of hearing about everyone he met’s great uncle Bob who served in World War II and was never the same after. It wasn’t that he didn’t care, but if he was being honest he really didn’t care. When Wade thought about his time in the military it didn’t give him some sort of sense of pride about anything he had done. He just felt sick. So instead of dealing with it, he did what any sensible man would do: covered himself up and tried to mind his own business. 

The kid from the bus was absolutely adorable though. Wade wondered to himself if he was of age. He landed on ‘probably not’ but he still couldn’t get those puppydog brown eyes out of his head. The way the kid had landed on him had shocked him, but he was by far the softest male human that Wade had ever had the pleasure of laying his hands on, even for a brief moment. He thought back to the last time he had actually been intimate with someone. How long had it been? Before his time deployed when he was with Vanessa, which meant it had been at least ten years. Ever since he came back he just hadn’t bothered. Anyone who was interested in being with hamburger meat was generally only in it for the novelty and Wade just wasn’t into being objectified like that.

But oh man. The way that kid had looked at him. It was like he didn’t even see the scars. Wade could tell when someone was staring at the scars. There was a certain way that everyone’s face moved when they were looking at something horrible. It was something he had learned quickly after being released from the hospital. Everyone had a certain look when they looked at him. Even his best friend, Weasel, had looked at him that way for a while. Eventually it went away, but every once in a while he still caught that look on Weasel’s face. This kid, though? It hadn’t even crossed his face. His eyes locked onto Wade’s and went wide, but not because he was scared. That kid saw something he liked and Wade would kill or die to find out what it was.

“What can I get for you today?” A soft voice interrupted his thoughts.

Looking up, Wade came face to face with the kid from the bus. He had that same look on his face, like he didn’t even see the scars, but his face was nearly purple with how deep he was blushing. It had to be one of the cutest things Wade had seen in his entire life. 

“Something sweet. Diabetes in a cup,” Wade smiled. He didn’t mean to, but his mouth had a mind of its own when it came to looking at pretty boys. 

“Brew got it,” the kid replied.

Wade burst out laughing. He had never been able to resist a good pun, but had not been expecting it from the barista at this little hole-in-the-wall hipster joint. If it were even possible, the kid’s face went another shade or two darker. Wade decided to turn around and sit down before the poor little guy exploded. He chose a seat near the window that allowed him to keep an eye on the kid behind the counter. To anyone else it probably looked like he was just waiting for his drink, but he was much more interested in the person making it than he was in the drink itself. His smooth, slender hands moved quickly around the machines behind the counter. Wade had no idea what he could possibly be making, but prayed that it would be at least halfway decent so he would have an excuse to come back here again. A man needed his caffeine and sugar fix, after all.

When he had finished making the drink, he turned around and Wade could finally see what it was. The drink the kid was holding was an enormous rainbow colored thing. It looked like happiness had thrown up in a cup. It was  _ perfect _ . He about jumped out of his seat to go get it when he realized that the kid was headed out from behind the counter to bring it to him. There was an adorable smile on his face that let Wade see that he had the best set of dimples he had ever seen in his life. Everything about this boy was just begging to be smooshed. 

“Here you go, sir,” the kid set the drink down in front of him. “Is there anything else I can get for you today?”

“Your name?” Wade smiled, looking up at the kid from under the hoodie. “Mine’s Wade.”

“Peter,” the kid gave him a slight smile and then skittered off before he could reply.

The kid’s name was Peter. Wade took a sip of the drink that Peter had made specially for him and flopped back into the chair. If he had died at that very moment he would have died a happy man. If it looked like happiness threw up in a cup then it tasted like a Victoria’s Secret orgy. Wade had no idea what any of the flavors he was tasting were and he didn’t dare ask, as if somehow by knowing what it was it would destroy the magic of what he was drinking. So instead of asking what was in his drink, he decided to hang out in his new favorite coffee shop and watch his new favorite barista work his magic on everyone else’s drinks.


	3. Monday (cont.)

Gwen came back from her break with a giant smile on her face, locking eyes with Peter. She took a moment to glance around the room and realized that the guy from the bus was still there. She took a seat on the countertop and looked pointedly at Peter.

“Soooo….” She said quietly.

“So what?” Peter smiled.

“Don’t you ‘so what’ me, Peter Parker. You totally drink-fucked that guy.” She raised her eyebrows.

“I have no idea what you mean, Gwen.” Peter shook his head and tried to hide the smile that was still plastered across his face. “He asked for something sweet.”

“ _ Mocha _ is sweet. What you made him was basically a proposition for sex in a cup.” Gwen sounded incredulous. “I have to practically drop to my knees beg you to make those for me! Me, Peter! Your bestest friend in the whole entire universe.”

“You could always make it yourself,” Peter teased.

“You know very well that you’re the only one that can make it work right. Mine always just turn out green and gross. Teach me, senpai, and I shall stop begging you to do it for me!” 

“No way,” Peter laughed, “I gotta hold on to my beverage trump card.” After a pause he added, “Do you think he likes it?”

“If he doesn’t jizz in his pants before the bottom of that cup, he’s got ED.” Gwen laughed.

Peter looked over Gwen’s shoulder and saw Wade sipping slowly on his drink, watching Peter and Gwen interact at the counter. Piercing blue eyes locked onto his and Wade gave him a slight smile. Those eyes could suck a person in and keep them prisoner. Peter would have been completely okay with being trapped in them forever. He wondered if Wade had somehow overheard anything they had been saying and felt his face flush again. 

“Earth to Peter,” Gwen nudged his shoulder with her elbow, “You’ve been staring for like, a disturbingly long amount of time. You don’t even know this guy’s name.”

“It’s Wade.” Peter replied.

“And how exactly did you learn this! You’ve been holding out on me! Dish!” She nudged his shoulder again.

“It’s not that exciting, Gwen. He just asked for my name when I brought him his drink and told me his. No big deal. Totally normal human interaction.”

“Except that you are basically melting into a Peter puddle behind this counter. I think I saw some drool fall out of your mouth. I can’t even get a good look at the guy. He’s all hoodie.” She huffed.

“Paws off,” Peter laughed, “I saw him first!”

“Oh please,” Gwen rolled her eyes. “He’s not exactly my type.”

“Good thing for me. I don’t wanna have to take you out, but I will.”

They both laughed at the idea of Peter being able to fight anyone, let alone her. 

A steady trickle of people in professional clothing made their way into the coffee shop and forced Peter and Gwen to pretend that they took their job seriously. As much as Peter found the typical professional to be boring, he knew that without them the place wouldn’t be able to pay the bills, so he kept his professional face on and made what felt like a million boring black coffees and soy lattes. Gwen always got better tips from the stuffy suit types, but Peter assumed it was because she batted her eyelashes at the men and made them think there was some universe in which she might actually be interested in them. If he were being honest with himself, Peter was a little jealous of the fact that she could play up her sexuality like that when she wanted to. She always teased him about being a prude and he didn’t like to think of himself that way, but the tip jar didn’t lie. 

He supposed he could have tried something like that with the women, but it just didn’t compute in his brain. Women freaked him out. They were all curves and softness and none of the sharp lines and hard bodies that he loved about men. He assumed he would eventually have to come out to Aunt May, but part of him just wasn’t ready to do something so official. Gwen was the only one who knew, unless the guys who called him a ‘faggot’ in the hallways at school counted, but he suspected they were just trying to be hurtful rather than make a statement on his sexuality. He had told Gwen the first time he thought he had a crush on a boy. 

 

_ Peter was eleven years old. Gwen was thirteen. He looked up to her in the way one might look up to an older sister. He had always wanted an older sister. Harry had invited them over to his house for the afternoon and they were playing hide-and-seek. Gwen was always the ‘seeker’ because she was never any good at keeping quiet long enough to hide well. Peter dove underneath a cabinet, scooting himself back away from the door. He heard Harry’s footsteps clamor through the hallway and suddenly there was another body crammed into the cabinet with him.  _

_ A feeling he didn’t recognize rose up in his chest when Harry was so close to him. It scared him that he was having strange feelings in the presence of one of his best friends. Everyone else talked about how they had crushes on this person and that person, but never Peter. Peter had always looked at girls with jealousy. He wanted to  _ **_be_ ** _ one of them, not be  _ **_with_ ** _ them. He wanted to go to sleepovers and play with their hair and talk about boys.  _

_ Gwen found them huddled in the cupboard together and nearly fell over laughing. When May had come to pick them both up, Peter had hugged Harry goodbye and felt that same feeling bubble up in his chest. Later that night while May was cooking dinner, Peter and Gwen sat on the porch swing gossipping about school and their teachers. Peter had looked up at Gwen with tears in his eyes. _

_ “Gwen,” his voice shook, “I think I like Harry. Like,  _ **_like like_ ** _ him. That’s not possible though, is it? Boys can’t like boys.” _

_ Gwen shook her head at him, “You like whoever you want to like, Tiger. Anyone who says you can’t will have to go through me first.” She ruffled his hair.  _

 

And that had been it. They had never explicitly spoken about it again. Peter told Gwen everything. Every crush on a boy, every time he was hurt that the girls didn’t invite him to their sleepovers. They did everything together. Eventually both May and Mr. Stacy started to assume that they were dating, but Gwen always politely corrected them, saying that Peter was just too young for her. She had been saving him from the embarrassment of coming out until he was ready. It just so happened that he wasn’t sure he would ever be ready. 

The steady trickle of businesspeople died down as the sun started to set. Peter noticed that Wade was still posted up in the corner of the coffee shop, nursing his drink and staring down at his phone. Every once in a while when Peter looked up from his work, Wade was smiling and Peter felt that familiar blossom of a crush sprout up in his chest. 


	4. Monday (cont.)

Wade hung out in the coffee shop minding his own business. He had meant to just grab a quick drink and leave, but the adorable little blush on that Peter kid’s cheeks had convinced him to stay a while. Besides, it wasn’t like he had anywhere important to be anyway. Weasel could get drunk alone for an afternoon. The only drawback to staying was that he could tell the professional looking people that trickled in were giving him a wide berth. He couldn’t tell if it was because they could see the mess that was going on under his hood or because they thought he was a member of the local homeless population looking for a place to sit down for a while. 

He distracted himself scrolling through his social media feeds. He didn’t have very many actual friends, but he followed a whole lot of funny pages and it let him focus on something other than the fact that he was sitting in a coffee shop, surrounded by people who were uneasy about him, all because he liked looking at the cute kid behind the counter. His thoughts wandered away from what he was looking at and back to Peter. 

He had gotten on the stop close to the high school, so it was safe to assume he was off limits for a while. He blushed redder than the blood in his veins when he was embarrassed, so he didn’t have a whole lot of confidence. He had given Wade his name, so he didn’t find him absolutely repulsive. He was absolutely beautiful, so maybe he would moan as pretty as he looked.

Wade shook his head, derailing that train of thought. He was a whole lot of things, but a predator wasn’t one of them. Though he could have fooled himself with the way he was so focused on a kid that was very clearly off limits. Sucking down the last of his drink, he decided it was time for him to get out of there before he did something he might regret. On his way to toss the drink cup, he paused and tossed a $20 bill into Peter’s tip jar while he was distracted helping one of the stuffy suit people. He headed out to the bus stop and hopped the next bus towards St. Mary’s. 

When he arrived, he threw his hood down. St. Mary’s bar was the one place that he never bothered to hide his scars. Everyone who was a regular knew him and knew they didn’t want to fuck with him. Everyone who wasn’t a regular would get tossed around by ten people before Wade actually had to deal with them. It was somewhat comforting to spend time in the presence of so many people covered in face tattoos that his scars were basically invisible.

“It’s about time!” Weasel’s voice carried over the bar. “We thought you might have actually gone and offed yourself this time.”

Wade took a seat at the bar in front of his friend, “If only you could be so lucky, Weasel.” He smiled. “I found a new coffee shop in Queens.”

“What’s her name?” Weasel cocked an eyebrow at him and set a shot down on the bar in front of him.

Wade shook his head. “I think I might play this one out.”

“You sure that’s a good idea?” Weasel’s smile faded. “No homo or anything, but I like you and that always seems to end with you crawling your sorry ass back here to mope at my bar and ruin the vibe.”

“We’ll see,”  Wade downed the shot. “Worst case, you get to feed me liquor until I forget, right? Either way, you win.” He tapped the empty shot glass on the bar.

Weasel shook his head and refilled the shot glass. “Someday you’re gonna have to find something to do other than run up a tab in my bar.”

“Ah, stuff it, Weas.” Wade downed the second shot. “You always get paid.”

“Fair enough, I guess. Just be careful, alright?” Weasel left the bottle this time and worked his way down the bar to attend to the other people that were waiting on their drinks.

Rather than fill his shot glass any more, Wade picked up the bottle and started sipping away it, paying little attention to how much he was actually drinking. By the time he realized he was drunk, he was  _ drunk _ . Not that that was anything new, though. The feeling of being drunk was a familiar comfort in a world of uncertainties. 


	5. Chapter 5

Peter locked the door after the last customer had left, making his way back to the counter to help Gwen finish cleaning up. 

“Think he’ll come back?” She asked him.

Peter shrugged, picking up his tip jar to start counting. They had separate jars, but they always split their tips evenly. Having separate jars gave the customers some sort of sense of choice, though, so they always got more tips when there were two jars than when they had only one. He dumped the change on the counter and both he and Gwen saw the $20 bill float out on top of it.

“Oh he is  _ definitely _ coming back,” Gwen laughed. “I told you, you drink-fucked him. You are a beverage prostitute, Peter Parker.”

Peter blushed and shot back, “How is that even any different than what we usually do?”

“Fair, fair,” Gwen shrugged. 

They counted and split their tips, exchanging the coins for bills from the register. They had had a good day, even without Wade’s ridiculous tip. Making, their way back to the break room, they grabbed their stuff and headed out. Gwen linked her arm into his as they made their way to the bus stop and let her head rest on his shoulder.

“You know,” Peter nudged her with his shoulder, “May still isn’t  _ totally  _ convinced we aren’t dating.”

“Why don’t you just tell her?” Gwen smiled. She was never pushy about Peter coming out and it didn’t bother her in the slightest that people still thought they were together.

“I don’t really know.” Peter’s eyebrows knit together. “I guess I should, but what if she gets mad? She was raised in a different time.”

“Peter Benjamin Parker, you do not believe that for a minute!” Gwen swatted him with her free hand. “May isn’t like that. If anything, I’m sure she was marching to protest for gay rights.”

Peter relaxed and a smile spread across his face, “You’re probably right.”

“I’m definitely right. I’ll come with you if you decide you want to tell her and you want some moral support. Not that I think it will be that big of a deal.”

“Hm,” Peter thought about it. “Maybe I’ll just make her a cake. ‘May I’m Gay’. That’s what the icing will say.”

Gwen started laughing so hard she had to let go of Peter’s arm and collect herself. By the time she had managed to stop laughing, their bus had arrived. They climbed on together and Peter sat down in the only free seat left, Gwen plopping herself on top of his lap.

“You know,” Peter laughed slightly. “We wonder why people always think we’re dating.”

Gwen snorted. “Let ‘em.”

Peter pulled his phone and headphones out of his pocket, handing Gwen one of the earbuds. He flipped off of his podcast and onto an internet radio station. They listened to the music in relative silence for the duration of the bus ride home. When the bus finally rolled up to their stop, Gwen handed him his headphone back and stretched up towards the roof of the bus before standing up and helping him to his feet. 

As they walked down the street towards their houses, Gwen’s hand found Peter’s and laced their fingers together. Peter couldn’t help but smile. Part of him wished he had been born straight. Being with Gwen would be so easy if he had. She was his best friend in the world and logic dictated that they would be an amazing couple. He just couldn’t think of her that way. As far as he knew, she had never thought about him that way either. Maybe because he just wasn’t her type or maybe because he had come out to her so early that she had just filed him in whatever part of her brain she categorized her female friends into. 

Gwen gave him a quick peck on the cheek when they were out front of her house, “If you make that cake, I demand an invitation. I want to see the look on May’s face.” She laughed.

Peter smiled back at her. “Deal. You can help me with the icing.”

Gwen waved him off and headed into her own house. Peter walked through his own front door a few seconds later. May wasn’t home from the hospital where she worked yet. Peter pulled out leftover lasagna and popped it in the oven so that it would be ready by the time she got home. He set the timer just in case she was working late and headed up to his room to finally finish the last of his homework.


	6. Tuesday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Extra long chapter today. I considered splitting it into two, but with the holiday tomorrow I may not get to update, so I decided to spoil you all with extra sexy content.

Wade awoke with a groan, his head pounding from some combination of the amount of alcohol he had put down the night before and the sun shining brightly in his eyes. His memory was hazy, but he remembered Weasel cutting him off and calling him a cab. He vaguely remembered throwing the bottle at his friend. Whoops. It wasn’t the first time he and Weasel had had a drunken disagreement and it would almost certainly not be the last. He rolled onto his side and checked his phone for the time. 1:55. It was basically noon, which meant that the time for getting something that resembled breakfast was long over. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he decided that if he wasn’t going to get any real breakfast he could at least go get himself a cup of coffee.

He smiled. Coffee meant finding a coffee shop. Coffee shop probably meant going back to the one he had found yesterday. Going back there meant seeing his new boy-crush. He sat up on the edge of his bed, letting his feet fall to the floor with a thud. His hands came up to his face and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Checking his phone again, he saw that it was supposed to be the hottest day of the year. He looked around at the clothing scattered across his bedroom floor. Generally, he wore sleeves no matter what, but if it was going to be that hot he wasn’t sure he could handle the heat. Sweat made his scars itch and burn like nothing else. Under normal circumstances he would have just stayed home, but these were not normal circumstances. There was a sweet little boy working in a coffee shop in Queens that was tempting him out of his comfort zone. He wasn’t even quite sure what it was about the kid that he couldn’t resist except that he looked at him the way people had always looked at him before the scars: like he was a walking god. Against his better judgement, he decided that he was going to have to forego the hoodie and wear a T-shirt out today. He just hoped that people would have the basic decency to recoil in horror and leave him alone rather than extend their sympathies. He’d had enough sympathy to last him a lifetime. 

Picking up a T-Shirt off his floor, Wade gave it a courtesy sniff and decided that it had passed the ‘clean enough’ test. He made his way into his bathroom, still blinking the sun out of his eyes the whole way. He left the lights off in the bathroom, using the light from the open doorway to see his way around. A sheet covered the mirror, one of the first things he had done when he moved into this apartment. Before the accident, he would have loved the way the floor-length mirror reflected the entire shower. He would have brought women (and men) back to his place so that he could watch himself plow into them. Now, it was just was a reminder of everything he used to have. No one had given him a second glance in years, except for the cute coffee shop kid. 

Wade tossed his boxers off and stepped into the stream of hot water. He let out a hiss as it worked its way over his scars, but soon relaxed against the tile wall. The heat of the water soothed the itchiness of his scars. He made a mental note to actually use the lotion that the doctors had prescribed, but also knew that he would probably not end up doing that. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the doctors, but moreso that he didn’t really see the point in putting the ‘scar-reduction’ lotion on his entire fucking body only to accomplish nothing. He had followed their instructions to a T for a while, but eventually it got old and now he had basically accepted that he was doomed to look like an abused ballsack for the rest of his life. It was just a fact. 

His mind wandered back to the way Peter had looked at him the first time he had actually seen park of his face. The way his eyes had locked onto his. The way his scrawny little body felt so soft and pliant against him. There was no way the kid was straight. Not with softness like that. If that boy was straight, Wade decided he would just chop his own dick off to save himself the aggravation. He pressed his forehead against the tiles and let the water run down his back.

Wade’s imagination always tended to wander while he was in the shower. Today it decided to wander to Peter. He imagined how Peter might take his time in the shower. He seemed the type to use a loofah and flowery scented body soap. Peter probably also used shampoo  _ and  _ conditioner, rather than a bar of soap for every inch of his body. Everything Wade had been able to see of his skin was flawless, so he decided that Peter must also use a separate face wash to take care of his beautifully smooth complexion. He wondered if Peter was the type to use the kind that had little bits of sugar or salt in it. Sugar. It was definitely sugar. Everything about him was soft and sweet, therefore his face wash must be too. Wade’s imagination decided that it was also vanilla scented. By the time Peter was done, the shower probably smelled like lilacs and vanilla, with undertones of whatever smell was uniquely  _ Peter _ . He felt his cock twitch at the thought of Peter having his own smell. 

His hand drifted between his legs and grasped his cock. He imagined how Peter might masturbate in the shower. He was young, so he probably lived with his parents and had to be quiet. Wade’s hand moved over his length slowly and leisurely. Peter would probably move quickly and quietly. He would probably bite into his lip to choke back whatever sounds he would make. Wade’s hand started to move faster, mimicking how he imagined Peter would stroke himself. When Peter couldn’t contain it anymore, the sounds he would let out would have to quiet. Wade imagined the soft voice that he had heard so little of twisting into a quiet whimper. He assumed that Peter must be a whimperer. There was no way the sweet, soft little thing that had been tossed into him on the bus could produce a sound as forceful as a moan. Wade’s hand picked up speed, twisting slightly on the forward stroke. He imagined Peter leaning back against his own shower, the perfect opposite of how Wade was curled into himself. Peter would lean back and let his hips roll forward into his hand. Wade’s hips snapped into his hand. When Peter was ready to come, he would probably arch his back towards the ceiling. His mouth would probably twist itself open and let out a long, soft whimper as his hand stilled around his cock. He would take a moment to recover, frozen into the blissed-out position he had come in. Wade grunted softly, letting his hips stutter into his hand. He felt his own orgasm build up in his gut and made no effort to postpone it. He curled in on himself, letting his mind stay on the image of Peter sprawled out against his own shower basking in the afterglow of his own self-pleasure. Wade came suddenly, hot fluid splattering against the side of his shower. 

He stood upright immediately, letting the water wash away all of the evidence that he had been masturbating. His mind went blank as well. It was as though the shower had also washed away all of the very very wrong thoughts he had been having about Peter. He justified it to himself by saying that it wasn’t like he was going to act on any of those thoughts, so it was perfectly okay to think about it in the privacy of his own shower. He wasn’t hurting anyone and no one had to know, after all. 


	7. Tuesday (cont.)

Peter exited the school building with the same amount of enthusiasm one might attend a distant relative’s funeral. Heading towards the city bus stop, he popped his headphones in and resumed his podcast. He enjoyed listening to Tony Stark talk, even if he disagreed with him on several points. At least he was funny. Approaching the bus stop, he saw someone seated underneath the cover again. His brain barely registered that the person was there until he got closer. The man seated at the bus stop was completely bald and his head was covered in scars. Peter assumed that it had to be Wade. After all, how many people in New York City were scarred that severely? There couldn’t be  _ that  _ many. Wade’s arms were exposed and also completely covered in scars, but that was only the second thing that Peter noticed. The first thing he noticed was that Wade’s arms were  _ huge _ . Peter had never seen someone with so much muscle. He bit into his lip, imagining exactly how strong someone had to be to have arms like that. 

When he was within a few steps of the stop, Peter pulled his headphones out of his ears and tucked them away in his pocket. Part of him hoped that Wade would initiate a conversation with him so that he didn’t have to do it himself. Another part of him hoped they could just board the bus in silence and he could go to work without suffering any more embarrassment in the man’s presence. He surprised himself by rounding the corner and taking a seat under the stop’s shelter. He shot Wade a tentative smile and found that Wade was already smiling slightly back.

“Heya,” Wade greeted him.

“Hi there,” Peter said, hoping his voice didn’t sound as stiff as it felt. 

“Work?” Wade’s voice sounded cheerful, but with an undertone of something that Peter could only identify as hesitation. He assumed that that was incorrect because why on earth would someone like Wade be nervous to talk to  _ him _ . 

“No rest for the wicked,” Peter smiled again, making eye contact with Wade. 

“Thank God.” Wade laughed slightly. “No one else in this entire city knows how to make a half decent drink. You ever considered bartending?”

Peter pointed at his backpack, “Gotta be able to drink to be a bartender.”

“Well,  _ technically _ ,” Wade flashed him a grin. Wade had the absolute most perfect smile that Peter had ever seen. Seeing it directed straight at him made his stomach do flips over itself. 

Peter felt himself blush and thanked his lucky stars that the bus pulled up at that moment. He stood and boarded the bus, this time with Wade right behind him. It was packed, as usual, so Peter took up a position holding onto a pole and Wade joined him a short few seconds later. Peter realized after a brief moment that the bus was unusually quiet. When he looked up, he realized why. Practically every single person on the bus had their eyes glued to Wade. Wade, for his part, had his chin dropped and was staring at Peter. Peter tried to give him a comforting smile, but was unsure if he had successfully communicated his annoyance with the rest of their fellow passengers, so instead turned his head to glare out at the rest of the bus. He knew he wasn’t the most intimidating person in the world. Not even close. But he hoped that he could at least encourage a few people to stop being such rude pricks. 

Throughout the ride, Peter kept wondering if anyone was going to give it up and behave like a normal human being. As they moved, though, it became clear to him that no one intended to avert their eyes from Wade for even a second. It made Peter inexplicably angry. His chest tightened and he felt his glare deepen. One or two people looked away when they noticed that Peter seemed to be trying to figure out how exactly to light them on fire by sheer force of will. Much to Peter’s disappointment, however, none of them caught fire. 

Without thinking, he grabbed onto Wade’s bicep as the bus approached their stop and dragged him off the bus with him. When he realized what he had done, his hand dropped immediately and he looked up at Wade in a panic. Wade only gave him a look of slight amusement, his mouth curled into a lopsided smile. 

“I, uh, I’m sorry.” Peter stuttered. “I just. Are people always so  _ rude _ ?!”

“Basically, yeah.” Wade shrugged. “I don’t notice anymore.”

“Ugh.” Peter felt his nose curl in disgust.

Wade only smiled in response.

They walked into the shop together, but didn’t discuss what had happened on the bus any more. Peter trotted off to the break room to change, only to be followed immediately by Gwen.

“Dish, Parker!” She snapped. “Leave nothing out, I want details!”

“Huh?” Peter cocked his head, “Oh. Wade? Nothing happened. People on the bus were assholes and I kinda sorta dragged him off.”

“That’s  _ it _ ?!” Gwen threw her hands out. “How am I supposed to live vicariously through you when you don’t do anything irresponsible and fun?”

Peter laughed, “Sorry, darling.”

“I’m going back to work. Work is more exciting than your love life. Unbelievable.” Gwen said sarcastically and headed back out to the counter. 

Peter finished changing into his uniform and followed Gwen out to the counter. He noticed that Wade had been seated in the same seat he had picked the previous day, but didn’t have a drink. Gwen gave Peter a pointed look from behind the counter and jerked her head towards Wade. There weren’t very many other people in the shop yet, so it wasn’t like he was waiting for it to die down. Peter assumed, then, that he was waiting for him to make the same drink he had made for him the day before.

Joining Gwen behind the counter, he buzzed around several different machines before turning back towards the seating area with the rainbow monstrosity in his hand. He saw Wade’s face light up at the sight of it and gave him a slight smile. Instead of waiting for Wade to come get his drink, Peter brought it out to him from behind the counter again. Setting it down on the table in front of him, Peter couldn’t help but laugh a little at the speed with which Wade started sucking down the drink. 

“There’s enough caffeine in that to get a horse through the day,” Peter smiled. “You might wanna take it easy.”

Wade shook his head, refusing to let the straw leave his mouth. 

Peter also shook his head and shrugged. “Your funeral.”

He turned around and made his way back to the counter where Gwen was giving him her ‘you-better-tell-me-everything’ look. He only wished there was something more to tell. Now that he had gotten a decent look at Wade without him hiding in a hoodie, he had so many questions and his imagination was running wild with thoughts of exactly how strong Wade might be and all the ways he could use that strength. 

“So…?” Gwen whispered under her breath.

“I just tried to warn him about the dangers of guzzling that drink too fast.” Peter shrugged. “Nothing else.”

Gwen let out an exasperated sigh. “You are the worst.”

They finished out their shift without another chance to really talk about Wade, which did not at all deter Peter from  _ thinking  _ about Wade nearly constantly. He wondered if Wade worked out or if those muscles came from whatever he did for work. He imagined that Wade was the kind of guy who worked with his hands. A mechanic or something, maybe. No, Peter decided, mechanics were dirty. There were a whole lot of words Peter could think of to describe Wade, but dirty definitely wasn’t one of them. He considered that maybe he worked unloading freight. That seemed much more plausible than fixing cars. It would explain why he was available at this time of afternoon and why he seemed to survive on caffeine and sugar. They had several regulars who were night shifters that came in both before and after work and they always seemed to want a cup of pure, sweetened caffeine. It was why Peter had concocted the rainbow drink in the first place. Some of their regulars were looking for something sweeter and more caffeinated. Everyone had basically unanimously agreed that the rainbow drink was pretty, but way too sweet. Thus, Peter was the only one who would actually drink it until Wade. He thought about Wade tossing around giant crates of cargo from ships and decided that even if that wasn’t his job, it was a great way to think of him. 

Fantasizing about Wade distracted Peter enough that he barely noticed time passing until it was suddenly getting dark out and Gwen was starting to clean up. Sometime during the afternoon rush, Wade had managed to slip out the door without Peter noticing. For some reason, this caused a pang of hurt to twitch in his chest, as if he expected at least a good-bye. After they closed and he went to count out his tips to split with Gwen, he noticed a small piece of paper folded neatly and dropped in his tip jar. Half expecting it to be some sort of religious propaganda, he pulled it out and read it. The only thing on it was a phone number, in jagged handwriting that he just  _ knew  _ had to belong to Wade. He slid it across the counter to Gwen,  who let out a celebratory howl.

“Yes!” She cheered. “A man who knows how to move things along! I like this guy already, Pete.”

“You think it’s his?” Peter asked her.

“Duh.” She rolled her eyes at him. “Who the hell else would it be?” She paused for a moment. “So are you gonna text him?”

“I mean, I have to, right?”

“Right.” She confirmed. “Because if you don’t I am going to steal your phone and do it for you.”

Peter shot her a panicked look. “What do I even say?” 


	8. Chapter 8

Wade waltzed into St. Mary’s like he was walking on air. Not only had he confirmed his previous thoughts that the kid looked right through his horrifying skin, but Peter had actually been offended on his behalf that other people were not so blind. It stirred up feelings in Wade that he didn’t think he had anymore to see Peter get so upset over people staring at him. He sauntered up to the bar and took his usual seat, waving Weasel over to him.

“Hit me, barkeep.” Wade laughed.

Weasel looked suspicious. “What’s got you in such a good mood?” 

“Told you yesterday, I found a new coffee shop.” Wade smiled.

“Yeah. Coffee. Uh huh.” Weasel shook his head and plopped a shot down in front of Wade.

The smile never left Wade’s face. “Cross my heart. Really good coffee.” 

Weasel shook his head again and went back to serving the other patrons of the bar, which left Wade alone with his thoughts. He wondered if Peter had actually found his number in the tip jar and if he would even text him. If he didn’t text him, would it be worth going back to that coffee shop? It really was the best drink he had ever tasted and  _ boy _ was he right about the caffeine content. Three sips in, Wade had been about ready to start bouncing off the walls. The only reason he finished it was because he wanted an excuse to keep hanging around. That and it tasted like an orgasm felt. The thought of orgasms made Wade feel slightly guilty about jerking off to Peter in the shower.

He tried to convince himself that it had just been harmless imagining. He told himself that thinking about someone wasn’t the same as actually doing it. He told himself that the age of consent in New York was  _ technically _ sixteen, therefore  _ technically  _ Peter was old enough have unsavory thoughts about. He tried to tell himself that obviously Peter had some sort of interest in him too, because why else would he care whether people were staring? No one was just that nice. No matter how he tried to justify it to himself, Wade knew it had been wrong. He also knew that he would probably end up doing it again. Running his hands over his face, Wade realized that he was in big trouble when it came to the sweet little brown-eyed barista. 

“You look like someone killed your cat,” Weasel’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “What’s going on with you? Are you okay, man? I’m worried.”

“Peachy-keen, Weas.” Wade forced a smile. 

“Tell me about this girl.” Weasel demanded.

Wade shook his head. “No girls for me.”

“Boy then, whatever. Tell me about him.” Weasel pulled a stool over and sat down to indicate that he didn’t plan on letting it go. 

“He’s in high school,” Wade dropped his head into his hands.

Weasel’s mouth dropped open. “Oh, shit. You didn’t…” His voice trailed off.

“Fuck no!” Wade felt his mouth curl in disgust. “Just cause I look like a monster now doesn’t mean I became one, Weas.”

Weasel smiled. “So what’s the problem?”

“The way he looks at me,” Wade shook his head. “It’s like how people used to. Before all this.” He gestured to himself.

“And this is a bad thing?” Weasel’s eyebrows knit themselves together.

“It is if I do something irresponsible because of it it is. It’s been,” Wade sighed. “It’s been a long time since anyone looked at me like that and I’m not sure I know how to say no anymore. What am I supposed to do if-”

“You’re better than that.” Weasel interrupted. “Age of consent is technically sixteen anyway, so as long as he’s older than that at least,” Weasel shot him a pointed look, to which Wade responded with a shrug. “Well, maybe figure out exactly how young your little jailbait crush is. But if he’s over sixteen,” Weasel gave a shrug. “There’s not really a whole lot stopping you.”

“Except, you know, morals and my own desire to not be some kind of predator that seeks out little boys to lure back to my apartment with promises of candy and funions.” 

“I’ll make sure to have Chris Hansen on speed dial,” Weasel laughed.

“I gave him my number,” Wade sighed.

Weasel stopped laughing and looked surprised, “He call you yet?”

“Nope.” Wade shook his head. “Think it was a bad idea?”

“Depends. If he texts you, then it was the best idea you’ve ever had.”

“And if not?” Wade cocked his head to one side.

Weasel dropped a full bottle of liquor in front of him. “If not, there’s always your number one man.”

Wade groaned and put his face back into his hands, then felt his phone buzzing in his pocket. Pulling it out, he saw a text from an unknown number. His heart skipped. 

 

**< Hey, it’s Peter.>**

 

“Well how am I supposed to respond to that,” Wade exclaimed, sliding his phone over to Weasel.

Weasel smiled, “This is one area where you’re on your own, my friend.”

Wade groaned again and stared back down at his phone. Who would have thought that three little words could be so ominous? He started to type out ‘Hey, how’s it going?’ then decided against it and deleted everything. He typed out ‘Hello beautiful’, but then decided that that was way too forward. ‘Sup’ was his next contestant, but that just didn’t feel right. Eventually he settled on sending a simple happy face emoji and left it at that. As soon as his finger left the ‘Send’ button, he picked up the bottle of tequila and guzzled half of it down. 


	9. Tuesday (cont.)

“What does that even  _ mean _ ?!” Peter tossed his phone across his bed after reading Wade’s response. 

Picking his phone back up, Peter noticed what time it was and got distracted from texting Wade back by the fact that it was getting late and he hadn’t showered in a shamefully long time. He put away the textbooks and laptop that were sprawled across his entire bed and grabbed a pair of pajama pants that looked relatively clean off his bedroom floor before heading into the bathroom. 

Peter stripped off his clothing and turned the knobs of the shower, taking a moment to look in the mirror while the water heated up. He had never been a fan of his own appearance. No matter how many times he had tried going to the gym, he never actually gained any kind of muscle mass. He hated the way that his scrawny arms hung against his sides, hated how ridiculously flat his whole chest was. He hated that he couldn’t grow hair anywhere but his armpits and his crotch. His chest looked the same as it did the day he turned thirteen and he hated every bit of it. 

The mirror began to fog with the heat of the steam building up in the bathroom and it forced Peter to step away from the mirror and into the shower. He pulled his loofah down from the shelf. Aunt May had bought them for him for as long as he could remember, not that he would ever admit to using them. Secretly, though, he never wanted to have to use anything else. He had tried a washcloth at a sleepover once and it had left his skin feeling slimy and gross. Pumping his coconut scented body wash onto the loofah, he lathered up his body. He let the water warm him back while he soaped his front, before turning around and rinsing, trying to reach all the spots on his back that he knew were impossible. 

He wondered what Wade’s shower routine might be like. He assumed he must use some sort of special sensitive formula of body wash to make sure that his scars didn’t hurt. He imagined that Wade’s body products were all scented like  _ man _ . The type of soaps that came with names like “chaos” and “phoenix”, as if that was something that someone would  _ want  _ to smell like. Peter very much preferred his coconut and vanilla scented soaps. He wondered how far down Wade’s body his scars went. His mind assumed they were everywhere based on previous knowledge, so when he conjured up an image of Wade showering in his mind, that was what he looked like. He wondered if they were uncomfortable and how much feeling he would have left in them. 

Thinking about how much Wade could feel in his scars led Peter to thinking about Wade jerking off in his own shower. Peter imagined that he was the kind of guy that didn’t take his time. His own cock twitched at the thought and he reached down to grasp it without thinking. He imagined that Wade would jerk himself hard and fast, so that’s what he did. He braced his forearm against the shower wall and stroked himself much rougher than usual. He imagined Wade moaning loudly because there was probably no one else home to hear him. His mind pictured Wade’s moans being loud and rough, so much unlike the small noises he had trained himself to make so that May wouldn’t accidentally hear him. He bit his lip and choked back the noise he wanted to make. He imagined Wade thrusting into his hand, and coming into the shower drain so that he didn’t have to take the time to clean himself off. Peter felt his own orgasm building in his abdomen and let his head fall back. He held onto the image of Wade’s cock spurting in the shower drain as his own shot hot cum all over the shower wall. He panted heavily, waiting for his legs to recover enough that he trusted them to hold his weight before straightening up in the shower.

He felt his face flush and was immediately overcome with guilt. He had never thought about another person when he masturbated before. Why would he suddenly start with Wade now? He barely even knew the guy. For all he knew, Wade was just being nice to him because he felt obligated after he had gotten so upset about people staring. Guilt twisted his stomach into knots as he stepped out of the shower and pulled his pajama pants on. He made his way back to his room and saw his phone still lying on his bed where he had left it. It reminded him that he had never actually texted Wade back, but he still had no idea what he was supposed to say to an emoji. Instead, he sent a text to Gwen.

 

*****************************************************************************************

 

**< Peter: He answered with just an emoji. What do I even say to that???>**

**< Gwen: Well what emoji was it>**

**< Peter: It was just a happy face *wide grin with ^ eyes emoji* that one>**

**< Gwen: That is not just a happy face. That is a SUPER happy face. Send him back an eggplant.>**

**< Peter: An eggplant?>**

**< Gwen: It’s emoji speak for penis, *facepalm emoji*>**

**< Peter: I can’t just send an emoji penis to someone I barely know!>**

**< Gwen: Send him a selfie?>**

**< Peter: Why would he want a selfie?>**

**< Gwen: Tell him it’s for your contact picture. It’s a great excuse AND it encourages him to send you one back *wink emoji*>**

**< Peter: You are an evil genius>**

**< Gwen: I take that as a compliment>**

**< Peter: I would expect nothing else from you *heart emoji*>**

 

*****************************************************************************************

 

Peter thought about it for a few minutes before taking Gwen’s advice. He took a selfie laying in his bed. When he looked at it afterwards, he wondered if he should put a shirt on before sending it, then decided that it probably didn’t matter since all the picture showed was his face and his messy hair anyway. Before he could change his mind, he quickly hit the send button and sent his selfie out into the world to find Wade. 


	10. Tuesday (cont.)

Wade felt the buzz of his phone as he exited St. Mary’s and pulled it out to see who could possibly be texting him. When he opened it, he was greeted with the most beautiful sight to ever grace his phone. Peter had sent him a selfie with the caption ‘for my contact picture ;)’. There was a goofy lopsided smile stretched across his face. His hair was wet and plastered to his face like he had just gotten out of the shower. He was laying in bed, looking up at his phone. Wade couldn’t see past his collarbones, but he could see enough to know that Peter wasn’t wearing a shirt. His milky white skin stood out against the navy blue of his sheets in a way that made Wade ache to know what was going on beyond the lower border of the picture. 

He hailed a cab, climbing into the backseat and relaying his address with his phone in his hand the whole time. He couldn’t bring himself to tear his eyes off the picture Peter had sent him yet. He wondered for a few moments how he should respond before realizing that he was probably supposed to send Peter a picture back. The thought of taking a picture of himself  _ on purpose  _ made Wade’s skin crawl. As far as he was aware, there were no pictures of him in existence since the accident, though he assumed that people on the street had probably taken some at some point. He was a walking sideshow, after all. 

The cab pulled up outside his building and Wade tossed a pile of money at him to cover the cab fare plus a sizeable tip. He thanked the cabbied and hopped out of the car, not even noticing if the driver had been staring at him on the way to his apartment. He made his way up the stairs with his phone still in his hand and didn’t put it down until he was safely in his apartment, where he set it on the counter so that he could decide how he was supposed to respond to Peter’s adorable shirtless selfie. 

Wade wondered if he could get away with saying that he just hadn’t got the picture, but that would be lying. He did not like lying. He considered sending a picture of something random from around his apartment, but that just seemed weird. Eventually he decided that he was going to have to just suck it up and go for it. It wasn’t like the kid had never seen what he looked like before, anyway. He grabbed the phone off the counter before he could change his mind and held it up above his head to try and get a somewhat decent angle. He forced himself to smile and snapped the picture, hitting send before even looking at it so that he didn’t have time to change his mind. 

He pulled his own shirt off and collapsed into his bed, setting his phone on the nightstand. For once he was grateful that he had drank so much because it meant that sleep came easily, even through the overwhelming anxiety he had surrounding having sent an actual picture of himself to another human being. His eyelids drifted shut even as he heard his phone buzzing on the nightstand next to him. The alcohol convinced him that whatever heartbreak awaited him could wait until morning. 


	11. Wednesay

_ Peter ran out of the school building and jumped into Wade’s waiting arms. Huge, scarred biceps embraced him and lifted him off the ground, spinning him in a small circle before setting him back on his feet. They shared a quick peck on the lips while Peter’s classmates stared in awe. Peter could hear and see that they were whispering to each other about them, but he didn’t care. He snuggled into Wade’s giant arms and forgot about his classmates. _

 

_ *********************************************************************** _

 

_ Wade was waiting for Peter outside of the coffee shop when he got off work. He was facing the other way, looking out at the street. Peter snuck up behind him, putting his hands over Wade’s eyes and kissing his neck. Wade turned around in his arms and put his own, much larger ones around Peter’s waist. Peter laughed like he hadn’t laughed since before Ben died. He let his whole body laugh and his smile spread to his eyes. Wade lifted him up off the ground and Peter wrapped his legs around Wade’s waist. They kissed again. Peter kept his eyes open and watched the way that Wade’s whole face started smiling when their lips touched.  _

 

_ *********************************************************************** _

 

Peter awoke with a start when his alarm went off. He let out a long groan before turning it off, taking a minute to let himself just stare at the ceiling and think about the dreams he had been having. He couldn’t remember much of them, but the parts he could remember were all about kissing Wade. Pulling himself out of bed, he tried to remember the last time he had dreamed about someone. He thought long and hard, but the only person he could ever remember appearing in his dreams was Ben. Those dreams had been horrific night terrors that left him drenched in a puddle of sweat. They had repeated themselves for months after Ben died. Every time, Peter had gotten there just a little too late.

Looking at the time, Peter realized that he was running late and grabbed the first set of clothes he could find on his floor, not even checking to make sure they were clean before pulling them on. As he walked out the door, he was still pulling his shirt the rest of the way down when he almost ran straight into Gwen who had been waiting for him outside her own house.

“Long night?” She cocked her head at him with a smirk.

Peter shook his head, “I was up late studying.”

They started walking towards their bus stop as they talked.

“So what happened with mystery man?” Gwen nudged him with her elbow. “Did you send him a sexy selfie?”

Peter pulled his phone out, remembering that he had never actually checked to see if Wade had answered him. He couldn’t help but gasp when he saw that Wade had actually sent him a selfie of his own. He had captioned it, ‘You showed me yours, so it’s only fair you get to see mine’. He couldn’t help but smile at the sight of Wade’s beautiful blue eyes staring up at him from his phone screen

“Ooooooh,” Gwen exclaimed, peering over his shoulder. “He’s totally into you.”

“What?” Peter gaped. “How can you possibly tell that from one picture?”

Gwen pointed at the photo. “Those are the most intense sex eyes I have ever seen.”

“You can tell that from a picture?” Peter’s eyebrows knit together as he examined it more closely.

Gwen laughed. “A picture is worth a thousand words, Tiger. You should send him one back.”

“Another one?” Peter gave her a confused look.

“Why not?” She shrugged. “Maybe he’ll do the same thing.”

Peter shrugged back. “I guess it worked last time.”

Peter lifted his phone up to take another picture and at the last second Gwen appeared in the frame behind him making a ridiculous face. They both burst out laughing and he decided he was going to send it anyway. At the very least, having Gwen in the picture might give them something to talk about other than staring at each other. He captioned it, ‘Good morning, beautiful. My BFF Gwen is being a turd.’ She saw the caption and swatted at his arm, but he clicked ‘Send’ anyway, sticking his tongue out at her. 


	12. Wednesday (cont.)

Wade awoke growling at the sun for daring to interrupt his sleep. He tried to shove his face back into his pillow to get some more sleep, but gave up when his throat reminded him how dry it was. He cursed biology as he sat up on the edge of the bed and reached for his water glass on the nightstand. As he pulled his hand back he realized that his phone was blinking. He assumed it must be Peter, but it was still strange for him to see that someone wanted to hear from him. 

He picked his phone up off the nightstand and unlocked it to see Peter’s smiling face accompanied by a pretty blonde girl. His mind immediately went to her being his girlfriend and his stomach turned before his eyes landed on the caption. The breath he didn’t know he had been holding eased its way out of his chest. The picture was sent a little before 8am. The time on his phone read 2pm. He was in trouble for sure. He barely knew anything about this kid, but the thought that he might have a girlfriend had been enough to get Wade all in a twist. Once he had recovered he realized that he had to come up with some sort of response to that. 

His heart couldn’t handle taking any more pictures of himself, so that was out. He tried to think of some sort of joke to make about the two of them, but didn’t want to offend. He settled on sharing a little more information about himself.

 

********************************************************************************

 

**< Wade: My best friend’s name is Weasel. He’s getting jealous about my sudden interest in coffee *winky emoji*>**

**< Peter: Not usually a coffee guy?>**

**< Wade: I’m more of a hard liquor guy>**

**< Peter: What’s brought up the sudden interest in coffee?>**

**< Wade: I finally found someone who could make a decent caffeinated drink in this city *winky emoji*>**

**< Peter: I’m honored>**

**< Wade: You should be. I’m a tough man to please.>**

**< Peter: Could have fooled me *tongue out emoji*>**

**< Wade: Guess you just know the right buttons to push. Do you work today?>**

**< Peter: Unfortunately for you, Wednesday is my day off>**

**< Wade: Who let that happen?>**

**< Peter: The child labor law statutes of New York>**

**< Wade: But who will caffeinate me through the day?>**

**< Peter: The store is still open when I’m not there *winky emoji*>**

**< Wade: That just isn’t the same>**

**< Peter: We could always get a recreational cup of coffee together. If you beg enough I might even make yours for you>**

 

*****************************************************************************************

  
  


Peter tucked his phone safely away in his pocket as he walking into his last class of the day. He had spent the entirety of his previous class focused on texting Wade, grateful that none of his teachers ever seemed to care when people were on their phones all class. He, especially, had had a decent amount of freedom since Ben had died because no one wanted to be the person that interrupted him texting his Aunt.

He almost regretted sending the text inviting Wade to get a drink together. It took much longer than the rest of their conversation for a response to arrive to that text and he was pretty positive that Wade was just trying to come up with a way to nicely reject him without losing his drink maker. When the response did come, though, he smiled widely. They agreed to meet at their usual bus stop outside of Peter’s school after he was done with his last class. Even more than usual, Peter’s feet tapped against the floor as he waited for the final bell to ring. When it did, he sprang out of his seat immediately, grabbing his backpack and bolting for the door. 

Peter didn’t even bother with the show of putting his headphones in while he cleared the short walk to the bus stop. He tried to regain his composure and contain his excitement as he walked. When he got there, he found Wade in a T-shirt again. His biceps bulged against the tight sleeves. This time he faced the direction Peter walked from and a smile spread across his face when he saw Peter heading toward him. Without even thinking, Peter threw his arms around Wade’s neck in a hug. Wade, for his part, recovered from the shock of the impact relatively quickly and brought one hand up to give Peter a pat on the back.

“Sorry,” Peter dropped to the ground and took a step back, “happy to be out of there.”

Wade flashed a smile. “Can’t say I blame you.”

He felt the redness rise into his cheeks at the sight of Wade smiling at him up close. His brain drifted back to the dreams he had been having when his alarm went off and how eerily similar one had been to what had just happened. 

“Second thoughts?” Wade’s voice interrupted his train of thought.

Peter smiled up at him. “Never.”

“So uh,” Wade looked around nervously. “How was school? You’re what, a junior?”

“Senior.” Peter winked. “But I’m sixteen if that’s what you’re getting at. How old are you?”

Wade looked down at his feel and the smile faded from his face. “Thirty-five.”

“Guess I can blame you for Bush, then.” Peter laughed.

“Oh no you absolutely cannot!” Wade laughed too. “I am a red-blooded Canadian male til the end.”

Peter was about to ask more about how Wade had ended up in New York when their bus pulled up to the stop. He linked arms with Wade like he would with Gwen and dragged him onto the bus. It was emptier than usual, so there were a few seats open scattered around the bus. Peter nudged Wade into one of them and plopped onto his lap, swinging his feet idly. 

Wade nearly gagged when Peter sat on his lap. Peter hugging him was the closest he had been to another human being in over ten years and this kid had treated it like it was nothing to touch him so intimately. Now they sat on a public bus surrounded by people who looked absolutely repulsed and Peter seemed to have no idea. Wade scanned the bus to count the number of people staring and tallied it at approximately all of them.

The number of people staring hadn’t escaped Peter’s notice, but he paid no attention to them. Instead, he focused on the fact that he was sitting on the lap of the most beautiful man he had ever met and he wasn’t sure he was going to be ready to give that up in two short stops. He leaned in close to Wade’s ear so that they wouldn’t be overheard.

“I’ve got an idea,” he whispered.

Wade’s face went flush at the feeling of Peter’s breath in his ear. “What’s that?”

“Do you trust me?” Peter’s voice was low in his ear.

Wade cocked an eyebrow. “I do.”

“Let’s go do something fun.” Peter couldn’t control the smile that spread across his face.

Wade shrugged his shoulders. He probably would have agreed to anything that came out of Peter’s mouth if it meant keeping him on his lap just a little longer. “What do you have in mind?”

“Coney Island?”

He shrugged again. “Lead the way.”


	13. Wednesday (cont.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was going to be a split in this chapter, but I just love you all too much to do that to you. Enjoy <3

Peter dragged Wade by the hand into the amusement park with a giant smile plastered across his face. His heart was beating at a mile a minute and his stomach hadn’t stopped doing flips since Wade had agreed to come with him. When Wade had confessed that he had never actually been to Coney Island, Peter had thought he would drop dead then and there. He promised Wade that he would show him the time of his life and he intended to keep that promise.

Wade couldn’t force his eyes off of their linked hands. His own rough, scarred flesh against the milky white of Peter’s reminded him of all of the reasons why this was a horrible idea. If he didn’t think it would break the kid’s poor little heart he would turn tail and run. Part of him wondered if it was worth it to run anyway. Surely he would get over a little heartbreak. Wade decided that he would stay out of pure selfishness because nothing in the last decade had felt as good as having Peter hold his hand in public and not even bother looking around to see who was staring. 

The afternoon sun shone down on the park, glinting off the various rides and booths. Poppy music blared through speakers scattered all around them and the sounds of people laughing carried through the air. Peter turned back to look at Wade with a giant smile spread across his face. He watched Wade’s eyes travel over all of the rides and attractions. Dragging Wade along by the hand, they stopped at a peashooter booth. Wade couldn’t help but laugh a little.

“Bet I can score higher than you,” Peter finally let go of Wade’s hand and slapped money down on the counter without taking his eyes off Wade. 

Wade raised an eyebrow. “You’re on.”

They each picked up their guns and when the targets started moving, Peter landed three shots dead center almost immediately. Wade’s jaw dropped a little, lining up his shots and missing every single one. Peter, laughing, landed his last three shots into the targets. He only missed knocking over one of them. Wade glared at the gun in his hand. He knew there was no way that he missed that many shots in a row. He lined it up again and emptied the rest of his shots, missing every single one again. Peter practically fell over laughing and pointed to a giant pink unicorn on the top shelf for his prize. When the guy handed it to him, he immediately passed it to Wade.

“It’s only gentlemanly of me to offer you the prize,” Peter laughed. 

Wade hugged his giant unicorn to his chest. “You cheated.”

“Not me.” Peter shook his head and leaned in close to Wade’s ear while they walked. “The targets are rigged. You have to shoot low or they won’t fall.”

Wade stuck his tongue out. “Cheater.”

Peter smiled and linked his arm with Wade’s so that he could hold onto his new fluffy friend. He kept his face turned up, watching the way that Wade experienced the fair for the first time. The blue of Wade’s eyes matched the sky almost perfectly. Peter let his head fall against Wade’s shoulder and kept leading him through the park. 

The giant unicorn that Peter had handed him comforted Wade for some reason. He wasn’t sure if it was because it distracted people from staring at him or because Peter had given him something tangible, but whatever it was, he was going to hold onto it for dear life. Peter brought him to a food stand. Wade didn’t pay attention to whatever Peter was ordering until he was guided to sit down at a picnic table and funnel cake was plopped in front of him. He smiled broadly at Peter when he realized that he had covered it in powdered maple sugar instead of plain powdered sugar. 

“Peter!” Wade feigned offense. “You assume that I must like maple because I’m Canadian?”

Peter nodded with a mouthful of his own funnel cake. After he swallowed, he laughed. “If you don’t want to eat it, I will.” He reached across the table like he meant to take the plate.

Wade snatched the plate back towards him. “Well, I didn’t say  _ that _ .” He shot Peter a smile.

Licking the sugar off his fingers, Peter realized that Wade was staring at him. With a mischievous smile, he decided to suck the sugar off a little more thoroughly. He started with his thumb, licking around his whole finger before sucking it into his mouth. Wade’s eyes went wide. Peter smiled slightly, pulling his thumb from his mouth with a small popping sound. He moved on to his index finger, sucking it into his mouth all the way to the last knuckle. He thought he heard Wade choke on his funnel cake and couldn’t help but slide his middle finger into his mouth too. He licked and sucked the sugar off his fingers as thoroughly as he could. When he finally removed his fingers, Wade had stopped chewing entirely and Peter was almost certain that he saw a bit of drool leave his mouth.

“What?” Peter cocked his head innocently. 

“Nothing.” Wade shook his head quickly. “Nothing at all. 

Peter smiled. “Uh huh.”

Wade finished his funnel cake in relative silence, watching the crowds of people move around them. He jumped slightly when Peter’s hand came across the table and laid over his. Looking up at the sky, Peter’s eyes lit up.

“C’mon,” Peter bounced up from his seat, still holding Wade’s hand.

Wade stood again, clutching his unicorn to his chest, and let peter drag him across the park. His eyes locked onto where their hands met, half scared that if he looked away Peter would disappear. His lack of focus on where they were going led to him crashing into Peter’s back when they stopped suddenly. Wade looked up at the giant ferris wheel they were standing under. Peter handed the guy operating it a punch card and dragged Wade forward onto the platform so they could pick their seats. The seats were small, which forced them to sit with their thighs touching and Peter’s bag and Wade’s unicorn tucked safely at their feet. Peter held tight to Wade’s hand even once the ride started moving. Once they were about twenty feet off the ground, Wade remembered that he was afraid of heights and squeezed Peter’s hand a little tighter. He closed his eyes and tried to forget that they were dangling in mid air. Peter nudged him with his elbow when the ride came to a stop.

“Wade, look,” Peter whispered in his ear. 

Wade opened his eyes and saw the most brilliant view of the sun setting that he had ever laid eyes on. The orange of the horizon faded into a mosaic of pinks and purples that stretched all the way across the sky. From where they were in the air, the people below them hardly looked like people at all. Wade gasped at the sight before him. 

Peter bit into his lip, trying to decide if he had the courage to try to kiss Wade. He had known before bringing him here that that was what he wanted to do, but now that he had his chance, his stomach was turning somersaults to try and tell him to back out. He took deep breath in and reached his free hand up to the opposite side of Wade’s face. Wade allowed him to turn his face towards him, looking slightly confused. Peter closed his eyes and leaned in close to Wade, pausing for a moment with their lips barely a centimeter apart. He could feel Wade’s breath coming out in ragged burts. Finally, he pressed their lips together and it felt like sparks erupted in his chest. 

Wade sat frozen in shock when Peter leaned in to kiss him. When he recovered, their lips were still touching and he let his tongue run over Peter’s lower lip. He tasted like sugar and something much more musky. He was as soft as Wade expected, moving pliantly against Wade’s much rougher lips. Peter’s mouth parted easily, letting Wade’s tongue explore it. He let his free hand come up to the side of Peter’s head and run through in his hair. Peter enjoyed the hardness in Wade’s kiss, even when he was trying to be so gentle with him. He leaned further into the kiss, trying to get as much as he could. When the ride jerked, they were forced to pull apart, but their hands stayed on each other’s faces for a long moment before falling back into their laps. Peter’s cheeks were bright pink and his hazel eyes stayed locked onto Wade’s. Wade couldn’t help but stare back, wondering what had really just happened. 

By the time the ride came to a stop back on the ground, the sky had darkened and the rides around them had their lights on, twinkling against the dark sky. Peter moved himself closer to Wade, shivering slightly, and tucked himself under Wade’s arm. Wade let himself smile slightly, enjoying the feeling of having another person’s body pressed against him. From behind them, they both heard the unmistakable sound of someone gagging followed by a chorus of laughter. Peter whipped his head around, a stony glare on his face.

“Puny Parker?” A guy from Peter’s school and his friends stood behind them, laughing amongst themselves. “We always knew you were a fag. Didn’t know even someone like you could be  _ that _ desperate. Where did you find this guy anyway? The crematorium?” The boys on either side of him laughed.

Wade pulled his arms tight against his body, shrinking away from the kids’ laughter. Before he could find words, there was a blur of brown hair flying through the air and Peter’s fist connected with the guy’s face. He stumbled backwards, nose slightly askew and bleeding. His friends’ mouths dropped open. Wade reached forward and grabbed onto Peter’s arm before he could swing again. Park security was in between them in seconds, talking to the group of boys while Wade held onto Peter, who was still fuming. 

“Are you okay?” Peter looked up at Wade, his hands still shaking. “I’m sorry. I should know how to deal with them better than that.”

Wade nodded slightly. “How’s your hand?”

“Probably broken,” Peter laughed. “Worth it though.”

One of the security officers turned to face Peter and Wade. When he spoke, he addressed Wade first. “We know they started it and they’re being asked to leave, but we’re going to have to escort you out, too.” Looking down at Peter, he continued, “Do you need help getting home, kid?”

Peter looked from Wade to the security guard. Wade’s face was turned down to his feet and Peter felt the heat rise up in his face again. “I’m the one who hit him!” He took a step forward before Wade grabbed onto his shoulders. “Coward!” Peter’s voice carried over the security officers.

“We’re leaving.” Wade let his hands drop so that he could hold Peter’s un-injured hand with one hand and grabbed his stuffed unicorn with the other.

Peter turned and shot death glares over his shoulder at both the security guards and the boys who had been mocking them. He gripped Wade’s hand tightly, as if he thought he might disappear. They didn’t talk about what happened any more, but Peter could see that Wade had been upset by it. He kept his head down the whole way to the bus stop and only spoke up when they were standing cramped tight against each other in the packed bus. 

“I’ll help you patch that up if you want.” Wade mumbled softly, nodding towards Peter’s hand. 

Peter looked down and noticed that it had started to swell. “That would be great.” He smiled up at Wade.


	14. Wednesday (cont.)

Peter sat at his kitchen table while Wade fussed over his hand. He blotted at the spots where Peter’s knuckles were split with wet cotton balls. Peter let out slight hissing sounds when the alcohol burned especially badly, but tried to keep still.

“Where did you learn how to do this?” Peter mumbled.

Wade smiled, still looking down at Peter’s hand. “Spent some time in the army. Never thought I’d use any of it.”

Despite his size, Wade was incredibly gentle with Peter. He wrapped his knuckles up in gauze and tape, turning his hand over gently to make sure the bandages were going to stay in place. Peter flexed his fingers, grimacing slightly at the pain.

A soft cough came from the doorway to the kitchen and both Peter and Wade’s heads whipped up to see Aunt May standing in the door. Her hands were on her hips and she was giving Peter a very pointed look.

“Care to explain yourself?” Her eyebrows raised.

Peter stood and showed her his hand. “Some assho-”

“Peter Benjamin Parker!” May’s voice echoed around the kitchen. “You are far too smart to be using language like that.”

Peter sighed. “Some pathetic excuse for whale excrement said something awful to us at Coney Island.”

May’s eyes flicked from Peter to Wade to the giant plush unicorn seated at her kitchen table. “I thought we raised you to fight with words, not fists. And did you even offer your friend dinner?”

“Oh no,” Wade raised his hands. “That’s okay Mrs. Parker. I should be going.”

“It’s May or Aunt May. We don’t do formalities in this house. Do you have somewhere you need to be?” May raised her eyebrows at him.

Wade shook his head. “No, I don’t.”

“Then sit down,” May gestured to the open chair next to Peter. “Peter might have forgotten his manners, but I certainly haven’t. I didn’t catch your name, dear.”

Peter and Wade shared a panicked look before Wade responded. “Wade Wilson.”

“Well, it is a pleasure to meet you, Wade.” She turned back to Peter. “So what did the whale excrement say that was so horrible exactly?”

“He called me a faggot.” Peter’s eyes dropped.

“Peter,” May’s voice softened. She pulled a pot of leftover spaghetti out of the fridge and set it on the stove.

“No.” Wade interrupted. “He asked if you picked me up at the crematorium.”

“Well,” May looked between them and back at Peter’s hand. “Under the circumstances I can’t say I would have done much different. I only hope he’s in at least as rough of shape.”

“Peter broke his nose.” Wade smiled, finally making eye contact with May.

May tried to hide her smile by turning around to tend to the spaghetti, but Peter and Wade both saw it. While her back was turned, they shared a look. Peter offered Wade a lopsided grin and a shrug. Wade returned a huge, genuine smile. Meeting May made Wade realize where Peter got his uncanny ability to look right through Wade’s scars. May hadn’t even paused when she saw him, just jumped right in to scolding Peter. Sitting at the table sharing dinner with then was the most normal Wade had felt in a long time.


	15. Wednesday (cont.)

Wade clutched his unicorn to his chest as he made his way up the stairs to his apartment. The smile hadn’t left his face since he had left Peter’s house with a giant tupperware container full of spaghetti to take with him because May didn’t believe him when he said he was eating plenty. He popped it into the fridge and collapsed into his bed, wrapping his body around his unicorn. He decided to name it ‘Parker’ because calling it ‘Peter’ would be a little too pathetic and obvious. 

 

*******************************************************************

 

**< Peter: Thanks for staying.>**

**< Wade: Your aunt is a wonderful woman>**

**< Peter: She really is>**

**< Peter: Sorry our evening had to end that way though>**

**< Wade: It happens, baby boy. I’m ugly. I know it. People remind me plenty.>**

**< Peter: People are useless fucknozzles and you are beautiful.>**

**< Wade: *heart emoji* You’re sweet>**

**< Peter: I’m honest.>**

 

*********************************************************************

 

Peter’s next text was a selfie of him, shirtless in bed with his tongue sticking out. Wade couldn’t help but smile. Peter’s chest was beautifully pale and smooth. There wasn’t a single strand of hair anywhere on him. Wade bit into his lip. His hand drifted down his own chest and into his pants. He left his phone open, imagining the way Peter’s mouth would look wrapped around his cock. His hand moved in quick strokes. He imagined Peter on his knees in front of him, with those gorgeous hazel eyes looking up at him while he gagged on his cock. Wade twisted his hand slightly, choking out a moan. He thought about how Peter would reach between his own legs and rub himself. He could picture the way his stuttered moans would vibrate around his cock. His hand sped up and he let his head fall back into his pillow. He imagined Peter enjoying the way his cock felt in his mouth so much that he couldn’t stop himself from coming all over his pale, hairless chest. The mental image of Peter with cum splattered all over him and his cock in his mouth was enough to send Wade over the edge. With a loud groan, he came into his hand and went still, panting slightly. Peter was going to be the death of him.


	16. Thursday

Peter stood outside Gwen’s house waiting for her to finish getting ready. He bounced on the balls of his feet impatiently until she came out of her doorway.

“Alright alright,” she huffed. “I have no makeup on, this better be good.” She looked at Peter. “What the FUCK happened to your hand?”

“I punched someone.” Peter said quickly. “But that’s not the important part. I kissed him! I kissed Wade, Gwen!” He hugged her tightly.

“Who the hell did you punch?” She picked up his wrist to look at the bandages. “Can you even throw a punch?”

“Some asshole from school,” Peter waved his hands dismissively. “ **I kissed him, Gwen** .”

“Well, dish! How did it happen? Where did it happen? Spare no detail!” 

Peter related the story of their entire evening to Gwen as they walked to the bus stop, right down to dinner with Aunt May. They boarded the bus and Peter kept right on talking her ear off about how amazing and wonderful and perfect Wade was. 

She smiled the entire time he talked and when it was time for him to leave and go to school, she kissed his cheek. “You two are the absolute cutest little cinnamon rolls on the planet. I expect to hear the rest of this story at work later.”

“Deal!” Peter smiled over his shoulder at her as he headed into the school building.

 

* * *

  
  


Wade awoke at his usual time, around two in the afternoon. He still clutched his unicorn tight to his chest. As best he could remember, he hadn’t had any night terrors. He thanked Parker for that with a kiss on his nose. He stretched out lazily for a few minutes before scrambling to get himself dressed so that he could meet Peter at their bus stop when he got out of school. Without thinking, he put on a T-Shirt. Since he had started spending more of his time with Peter, he had stopped thinking as much about covering up his scars all the time. He bounded happily down the stairs and walked to the bus stop. 

Sitting under the shelter at the bus stop, Wade kept one eye on the direction of the school building, waiting to see if he could see Peter headed his way. Swarms of high schoolers spilled out of the double doors, but they all headed to the school buses rather than the city stop. Eventually, when the waves died down he saw a familiar mop of brown hair headed down the walkway towards him. Wade’s face broke out in a smile. 

From out of nowhere, there were three much larger boys on top of Peter. Wade sprang to his feet and sprinted across the lawn, grabbing the biggest one of them by the shoulders and tossing him several feet away like he was nothing. His fist connected with a second one’s face, which sent him tumbling off of Peter. Peter’s foot narrowly missed Wade’s head when it came forward and collided heel-first with the third boy’s face. Wade lifted Peter to his feet easily. Peter paused and kicked the second of his would-be attackers in the ribs, then spat a mouthful of blood on his face before storming off towards the bus stop.

Wade trotted behind Peter, “Hey, you okay?” He put a hand on Peter’s arm.

Peter didn’t look him in the face until they were at their bus stop. When he did, Wade saw the tears streaking down his face, mixed with blood and dirt. Wade brought both his hands up to cup Peter’s cheeks, wiping away the tears with his thumbs. 

“It’s alright,” Wade pulled Peter into a tight hug. “I got you.”

Peter wrapped his arms around Wade’s waist, balling his fists up in his shirt. 

“Wanna go home?” Wade kissed the top of Peter’s head.

He nodded, face still buried in Wade’s shirt. 

Wade let his chin rest on top of Peter’s head. “You’re okay.”

The bus arrived on time and Peter finally pulled away from Wade’s chest slightly. He gasped softly at the spots where he had gotten blood on Wade’s white shirt. Wade waved his hand dismissively and guided Peter onto the bus with a hand on the small of his back. Wade sat down in an open seat and even though there was a seat next to him that was empty, Peter curled himself up on Wade’s lap. Wade’s arms wrapped around him protectively, hugging him tight. 


	17. Chapter 17

When they made it into his kitchen, Peter finally spoke up. “I got blood on your shirt.”

“Not the first time,” Wade shrugged.

Peter held his hands out. “Let me wash it.” He saw the way Wade’s eyes shifted around the room. “May won’t be home til late.”

Wade reluctantly pulled his shirt up over his head. Peter felt his face flush at the sight of Wade without his shirt on. He could feel an erection pressing against the front of his jeans and prayed that Wade couldn’t tell. His hands shook when he took the shirt out of Wade’s hands. Wade shifted his weight uncomfortably from one foot to the other. Peter turned around and headed to the laundry room off of the kitchen. 

He leaned forward, gripping the washing machine tightly with both hands even though it hurt his broken one. He took several deep breaths and tried to think of  _ something, anything  _ other than the fact that Wade was half naked in his kitchen and was going to be for the next couple of hours. His brain was kind enough to supply plenty of graphic images of Wade bending him violently over the countertops. Squeezing his eyes shut, he forced the images out of his head and started the wash.

Wade looked around the kitchen, considering the possibility that chopping his own dick off might be less painful than spending two hours shirtless with Peter without railing him through the wall. He inhaled deeply, forcing himself to think about something completely un-sexy. When Peter re-appeared from the laundry room, though, all thoughts of things other than sex were promptly tossed out of his brain completely. His face was bright red and his hair was mussed. If it weren’t for the black eye and the split lip, he could have been an angel. 

“Let me clean that up,” Wade gestured to his lip.

Peter nodded and sat down at the kitchen table in the same spot he had been in the night before. “Do you think all of our dates are going to end in violence?”

Wade beamed when Peter said the word ‘date’. “Hopefully not. You’re pretty scrappy, though. For a tiny thing.” 

Peter’s mouth fell open. “I am not tiny!”

“Sure, sweetie.” Wade smirked and patted the top of Peter’s head. 

Wade’s hands moved carefully over Peter’s face, cleaning all of the blood and grime off. When he was satisfied that Peter’s lip was fully clean, he sat down next to him at the table. 

“Wanna play a game?” Peter had a mischievous look in his eyes.

Wade cocked an eyebrow. “What do you have in mind?”

“Truth or dare.” Peter smiled. “We need to get to know each other a little better I think.”

“One rule.” Wade choked out. “No sexy dares for things we haven’t done. I’m not having any firsts be done on a dare.”

Peter smiled. “You’re on. You first.”

“Truth or Dare?” Wade asked tentatively.

“Truth.” 

Wade thought for a moment. “What’s your favorite subject in school?”

“Biology.” Peter answered immediately. “I love genetics. Truth or Dare?”

“Truth.”

“You said you were in the army. What did you do?” Peter tilted his head to one side.

Wade bit his lower lip. “Special forces. Bad stuff. Truth or Dare?”

“Dare.” Peter grinned.

“I dare you to take your shirt off too. Only fair.”

Peter’s smile widened and he pulled his shirt up over his head, tossing it aside. Wade let out a hiss through his teeth. The pressure in his pants made him slightly unsure if getting Peter half naked was actually a good idea.

“Truth or Dare?” Peter interrupted Wade’s staring.

“Truth.”

“Why do you jump away when I touch you sometimes?”

Wade bit his lip. “Just not used to it, I guess. It’s been a long time since someone touched me because they wanted to.” He shrugged slightly. “Truth or Dare?”

“Truth.”

“Why do you like touching me so much?” Wade kept his eyes on Peter’s, doing his best to not get distracted by the fact that Peter’s flawless chest was on display.

Peter thought for a moment before answering. “I like you. A lot. Sometimes there’s just no words that can say what you can with touches.” As if to set an example, Peter reached across the table and laced his fingers with Wade’s. “Truth or Dare?”

“Dare.” The word fell out of Wade’s mouth before he could stop it.

“I dare you to touch me.” 

Peter’s eyes followed Wade as he stood up and came to stand behind him. He wasn’t sure what to expect, since he hadn’t been specific, but his skin was electric waiting for Wade’s hands to touch him. One of Wade’s hands came down and very gently cupped his cheek, dragging the tips of his fingers along his jawline. Then, as quickly as it had started, the touch was gone. Peter’s breath came out ragged and he could feel the flush in his cheeks. 

“Truth or Dare?” Wade smiled. 

“Truth.”

“What does your body wash smell like?”

Peter cocked his head in confusion. “Coconut. Truth or Dare?”

Wade smiled. “Truth.”

“Do I turn you on?” 

“You have no idea.” Wade’s voice was low and gravely. “Truth or Dare?”

“Truth.” Peter couldn’t hide the blush on his cheeks.

“What do you want out of this? Us?” Wade gestured between them. 

Peter chewed his bottom lip in thought. “I was thinking a summer wedding, three tiny dogs, and a high rise.” Wade could feel the lump rising in his throat as he tried to think of something to say, but Peter interrupted his thoughts. “Truth or Dare?”

“Truth.” Wade smiled.

“Do I scare you?”

Wade swallowed deeply and nodded. “To death.” He took a moment to catch his breath. “Truth or Dare?”

“Dare.” Peter’s voice was quiet.

“I dare you to kiss me without using your hands.”

Peter stood up and came around the table, linking his hands behind his back. He leaned over Wade, touching their lips together softly. His mouth was pliant against Wade’s, lips softer than the best sponge cake. Peter’s tongue danced out of his mouth and traced over Wade’s bottom lip. When Wade’s mouth fell open, Peter took the opportunity to suck on his bottom lip. Wade groaned into their kiss and Peter pulled back, sitting back down in his chair. They were both panting heavily and Peter had a huge smile on his face.

“Truth or Dare?”

“Dare.”

“I dare you to write your name on me.” He leaned back and pulled a sharpie out of a kitchen drawer, then stood up and walked back over to Wade. “Right here.” He pointed to the side of his hip.

Wade leaned forward and planted a kiss on the spot Peter pointed to, then pulled the sharpie cap off with his teeth. He spelled out his name in his scratchy handwriting, adding a tiny heart to the end, then blew softly on it a few times to help it dry, staring up at Peter the whole time. Before sitting back in his chair he planted another gentle kiss on Peter’s stomach just below his bellybutton. Peter couldn’t help the blush that spread down his chest. He sat back down in his chair, chewing his bottom lip.

“Truth or Dare?” Wade smiled, popping the cap back on the sharpie.

“Truth.”

“Does your aunt know you’re gay?” 

Peter shook his head. “I keep meaning to tell her, but I never know how. She probably suspects it though, especially after the other night.”

“Why not just come out with it?” He snickered. “Get it? Come out?”

“You’re ridiculous.” Peter tried to hide his smile. “Gwen told me to do that the other day and I told her I was gonna make a cake that says ‘May, I’m Gay’ on it.”

Wade’s face brightened. “Let’s do it!”

Peter cocked an eyebrow. “You’re kidding.”

“Not even a little, sweetheart.”

Peter sighed. “Alright, let’s do it.” He shrugged. 

Wade jumped up and clapped his hands. 

Peter stood and pulled an old cookbook out of the cupboard, flipping to the section for cakes. “What kind of cake says ‘I’m a homo, please don’t hate me’?”

“Your aunt is a wonderful woman who will never hate you. Also, chocolate. You know, because-”

“Vanilla it is!” Peter interrupted, his face bright red. 

Wade laughed at his own joke while Peter pulled out a mixing bowl and measuring cups, shoving them into his arms. They somehow managed to mix all of the ingredients without destroying May’s kitchen. While the cake was in the oven, Peter remembered that he had homework he needed to get done, so he sat Wade down in front of the television. He ran upstairs and grabbed his textbooks, then sat down between Wade’s feet on the floor and set to work using the coffee table as a work surface. Wade peered curiously over his shoulder, mesmerized by how easily Peter was working his way through his math work without ever pulling out a calculator. 

A sudden crashing through the front door caused them both to jump. “ **Peter Benjamin Parker** ,” Gwen’s voice rang through the house. 

“In here!” Peter and Wade shared a look.

“What exactly in the hell were you thinking, just blowing off work?” You better have a real good fucking excu-” She walked into the room. “Oh.”

“Hey Gwen,” Peter looked down at his homework sheepishly.

“Unbelievable.” She shook her head. “You’re both shirtless and you’re working on fucking homework.” She looked at Wade. “You’re just letting this happen?” She finally paused and looked at Peter’s split lip and black eye. “What the fuck happened to you?” She dropped to her knees in front of Peter, grabbing his chin to get a better look at his face.

“That guy I hit,” Peter mumbled. “Him and his friends don’t fight fair.”

“And where were you?” She glared up at Wade, who suddenly felt very small.

Peter nudged her with his elbow. “Wade pulled them off of me.”

The oven timer dinged and Peter jumped up. Gwen cocked her head to one side, following him into the kitchen with Wade trailing a few feet behind them. Peter pulled the cake out of the oven, setting it on the counter to cool.

“What the hell are you making a cake for?” Gwen gave Peter a dumbfounded look.

Peter laughed. “I told you. It’s my coming out cake.”

Both Gwen and Wade put their faces in their hands, then shared a look and started laughing too. 

* * *

 

May walked through the door into the kitchen, flipping the switch on the wall as she set her bags down. 

“SURPRISE!” A chorus of three voices made her jump. 

May started laughing. “What are you all doing?”

“We made you a cake.” Gwen smiled, nudging Peter with her elbow. 

Peter slid the cake across the table, allowing may to read the sloppy writing on top of it. She looked around the table at Wade, Peter, and Gwen. 

“Which one of you came up with this?” She tried to hide her smile.

Peter looked down at the table. “It was my idea, but they put me up to it.”

She walked around the table and hugged Peter from behind. “Peter, I’ve known since you were a little boy. I was just waiting for you to be ready to tell me.”

His jaw dropped. “You knew?! How?!”

“Sweetheart,” May smiled, “you spend every free moment with a beautiful girl and never once asked me how you should woo her.” She winked at Gwen. 

Gwen threw her head back laughing. “I told you so, Tiger!”

Peter swiped a finger through the frosting and smeared it on Gwen’s nose. 


	18. Friday

_ Wade looked around at the familiar faces around him. Joey sat in the front seat of the Humvee, staring intently out the windows. He had offered to swap so that the guy could try to get some sleep, but Joey had just shaken his head and smiled, saying he wasn’t giving up shotgun for anything. Wade’s gun rested between his knees, a familiar comfort. His sweat made his skin itch under his BDUs. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat.  _

_ “What the fuck is tha-” the sentence hadn’t even made it out of Joey’s mouth before there was a sharp explosion, sending their vehicle flying.  _

_ Wade and the two others in the back seat scattered out of the Humvee, rifles scanning the area around them. None of them could see anyone who might have triggered the IED. Behind them, the Humvee crackled with flames. Wade looked to each side of him and realized that he hadn’t seen Joey get out of the vehicle. Slinging his rifle over his back, he turned around and ran back to the vehicle. He could hear everyone else shouting at him to get back, but his vision tunneled in on Joey. He was slumped over in the passenger seat of the upside-down vehicle. Wade crawled in the back door he had gotten out of.  _

_ “Joey,” he shouted, “Are you still with me, buddy? I’m gonna get you out of here, okay?” _

_ Joey’s eyes blinked a few times, slowly. Wade pulled his combat knife out of his belt and cut away the seatbelt. He dragged Joey by the shoulders into the backseat and tossed him out of the back door into the waiting arms of their friends just before the engine exploded. Wade saw a bright flash of light and felt searing pain over his entire body. He vaguely remembered dragging himself out of the vehicle and collapsing into the sand, doing the only thing he could think of and rolling around. The sand ground into the fresh burns that covered his entire body. Pieces of his BDUs had melted and fused with his skin. _

* * *

 

 

Wade awoke screaming, clutching Parker tight to his chest. He sobbed into the unicorn’s back, trying to wipe the memories from his head. He gripped into it until his knuckles went white, curling his body up as small as he possibly could. Tears streamed down his face and disappeared into Parker’s fur. Without thinking, his hand reached over to his nightstand and grabbed his phone, pressing the button to call Peter without even looking at the time.

“H’llo?” Peter’s voice sounded like he was still mostly asleep.

Wade tried to swallow his sobs down. “Pete?”

“Wade?” Peter suddenly sounded very awake. “Wade, are you okay? It’s three in the morning.  What’s going on?”

“I just,” Wade exhaled sharply. “I’m not okay, Peter. I was just dreaming and it wasn’t good. Well, they’re never good. But it was especially bad.”

Peter’s breathing came over the line. “You’re safe, Wade. Whatever it was, you’re safe.”

Wade’s sobs wracked his whole body.

“Wade?” Peter sounded panicked. “Do you want me to come over? Do you want to come here?”

“Just,” Wade tried to calm his breathing. “Just talk to me? It doesn’t matter what, just wanna hear your voice.”

Peter yawned. “I fell asleep in my books. I was working on a paper about theoretical physics and how I think they could be applied to Tony Stark’s arc reactor concept to power a much more efficient rocket for space travel, since he claims that his arc reactors are stable and self-contained.” He yawned again. “The only problem with that is that we don’t have a good way to deal with it when the reactor does eventually die.”

“Thank you, Peter.” Wade smiled and felt his chest start to loosen.

“But even then, it’s not that big of an issue because we can’t get a human that far into space unless we send a whole colony of them. So it would only need to go one way and leave scouting robots who could send their data back here. I did a lot of research on satellite data transfers and I think we could put satellites into orbit around different planets and use them as a sort of relay system to get data more efficiently from one end of our solar system to another. Of course, that relies on there not being electrical interference in our solar system that disrupts the transfer process, but I think it’s still something to think about, you know?”

“Mhm,” Wade replied sleepily. “You should work with Stark.”

“I keep meaning to apply for their internship, but… I don’t know. I guess I’m too scared that they’ll turn me down, you know? If I never actually apply, they can’t tell me I’m not smart enough to do it. The coffee shop might not be that exciting most days, but it let me meet you.”

“Baby boy, you are most definitely smart enough to work with Stark. Maybe even smarter than he is. I’ve met the guy. He’s not all he’s cracked up to be.” Wade yawned into the receiver.

Peter gasped. “You’ve  _ met  _ Tony Stark? Like, live and in person? Where? How? I’ve always wanted to meet him in person, even if I think some of his ideas are irresponsible and stupid.”

Wade barked out a laugh, wiping the tears from his face. “Well, now I definitely have to introduce you, but please please please promise me you will say that to his face. I’m begging you, Pete.”

“But how do you even know him?”

“We met at some stuffy awards dinner the military makes me go to every year.” Wade shrugged, even though Peter couldn’t see it. He heard what sounded like a soft snore on the other end of the line. “Still with me, baby boy?” 

Peter didn’t answer, but Wade could hear him breathing into the receiver. Instead of ending the call, he laid down with the phone against his ear, clutching Parker to his chest. He drifted back to sleep listening to the way Peter breathed so slowly, wishing that he had the real thing.


	19. Chapter 19

Peter barely made it through his school day without falling asleep at his desk. He walked out the doors in a haze, autopiloting to the bus stop and expecting to find Wade there waiting for him. Wade did not disappoint. He leaned against the bus stop shelter in a plain white T-shirt that clung to his muscles in a way that made Peter bite his lip. Wade looked up and smiled when he saw Peter walking towards him. Peter flopped into Wade’s arms as soon as he was close enough, letting his whole body go slack. Wade caught him easily, supporting all of Peter’s weight in his giant arms. Wade hummed a tune under his breath that Peter didn’t recognize.

“What song is that?” Peter mumbled into Wade’s chest.

Wade kissed the top of Peter’s head. “It’s our song. I’ll show you sometime.”

The bus pulled up to their stop and Peter dragged himself onto it. His eyes felt heavy and instead of holding onto the pole, he leaned back into Wade. Wade kept right on humming into his ear, swaying slightly. Peter sighed contentedly. When they got to the stop outside of his work, Peter groaned. 

“There is not enough caffeine in the world to get me through this day.” He yawned.

Wade looked down at his feet. “Sorry Petey. I shouldn’t have woken you up.”

“No no no no, Wade,” Peter waved his hands in front of him. “Please don’t think that. I’m glad you called me.”

Without either of them realizing it, they had walked into the coffee shop holding hands. Peter’s boss, Jameson, stood behind the counter, picking up the weekly deposit for the bank. When Peter and Wade entered, his face contorted in a way Peter had never seen someone’s face move. Jameson made a disgusted gagging sound. 

“Get out!” Jameson’s voice boomed over the room.

Peter looked from Wade to Jameson in shook, then down at their linked hands. Wade’s face turned away and towards the door, which made heat rise up in Peter’s cheeks. Without a second thought, Peter turned on his heel and walked out the door. He dragged Wade along until they came to a small park, pulling him to a bench and sitting down with their hands still tightly gripped together. 

“Wade?” Peter’s chin tilted up to get a better look at him. “Are you okay?”

Wade’s mouth gaped. “Am  _ I  _ okay?” He threw his hands out. “I just got you fired and you’re worried about  _ me _ ?”

Peter shrugged. “You didn’t get me fired. Jameson is an asshole. It was bound to happen eventually anyway. Guess I don’t have any excuse for not applying for Stark’s internship program now, huh?” He laughed. 

“You’ll get it.” Wade sounded so certain. “I’ll make some calls. Stark will love you.”

“You don’t need to do that.” Peter shook his head.

Wade leaned down and kissed his forehead. “I want to. You’re brilliant, Petey.”

Peter laid his head on Wade’s shoulder, watching the stream of people that walked through the park. Wade watched the way Peter looked out at the world like he still thought there was some good left in it. Looking down at Peter, he started to entertain the possibility that maybe there was.

“Wanna get dinner maybe?” Wade chewed his lip.

Pete smirked. “Wade Wilson, are you asking me out on a date?”

“Only if you say yes,” Wade smiled back. 

Tilting his chip up, Peter planted a soft kiss on the side of Wade’s neck. “I’ll never say no to you.”

Wade let out a high pitched squeal and jumped up off the bench. “C’mon, baby boy, this is gonna be  _ awesome _ .”

Peter smiled, letting Wade pull him along by the hand. Wade hailed a cab, holding the door open and letting Peter enter first. Wade slung his arm across Peter’s shoulders, pulling him in close in the back seat of the cab. Peter let himself relax into Wade’s side, enjoying the way that the hardness of Wade’s body made him feel safe and surrounded. He smelled musky and manly, which made Peter’s stomach do flips. 

Wade nuzzled into Peter’s hair after rattling off an address to the cabbie. Peter smelled like coconut and vanilla and something else that was distinctly  _ Peter _ . It made Wade smile thinking about Peter using some sort of body wash that probably came in a container that was shaped like a cupcake. He pulled Peter into him a little tighter, letting the boy lean his back all the way into his chest. Wade smiled, enjoying the weight of Peter on his chest, like a squishy, yummy smelling weighted blanket.

They passed the cab ride in silence, with Peter drifting in and out of napping and Wade watching the way his breath moved slowly through his chest. When they arrived at their destination, Wade nudged Peter gently. 

“We’re here, sleepy boy.” He kissed Peter’s temple.

Peter blinked awake. “Sorry.” 

Wade shook his head. “I kept you up half the night. You deserved the nap.”

A yawn climbed out of Peter’s mouth. 

Exiting the cab, Wade tossed cash to the driver including a hefty tip. He held the door to the restaurant open for Peter, ushering him inside with a hand on his lower back. Without thinking, Peter linked arms with Wade as they followed the host to a booth in the back of the restaurant. Wade thanked him, guiding Peter to sit down before sitting down opposite him. A wide grin spread across his face at the stunned look Peter was giving him.

“What?” Wade laughed softly.

Peter looked around them. “I don’t think I’ve ever been anywhere this nice.”

“This is where the US army hosts their annual ‘We’re Sorry We Dragged You Into This Shitty War’ apology dinner for all the foreign dignitaries. I only remembered it cause they sent me my invite last week.” Wade smiled. “It’s nice to be here with someone I actually  _ want  _ to see.”

“You work at the embassy?” Peter cocked his head.

“HA!” Wade looked around guiltily, in case he had startled someone with how loud his voice had been. “No way. I’m the token charity case they use to remind everyone why the bad guys are bad and we’re on the right side.” His last sentence was spat out with distaste. 

Peter looked down at the table. “That doesn’t seem right.”

“It’s not as awful as it sounds,” Wade shrugged. “They feed me and they still pay my pension every month, so I can’t complain too much about showing up for dinner and looking mangled and pathetic once a year.”

“You aren’t mangled and pathetic.” Peter crinkled his nose. 

Wade smiled softly. “I’m glad you don’t think so, baby boy, but everyone else disagrees. And it keeps the money flowing to fight their little war. You should come with me. Dinner is tomorrow. All sorts of people show up that you probably care about and I have no idea who they are.”

Peter looked stunned. “You really want me to be your date to something like that?”

“I can’t think of anyone I would rather suffer through a black tie affair with.” Wade chuckled under his breath.

“Of course I’ll go, but…” Peter quirked his mouth like he did whenever he was thinking especially hard. “It’s okay that I’m so young?”

Wade shrugged. “Who’s gonna say anything?”

The host returned with two plates of pasta, setting them in front of Peter and Wade then disappearing back to the font of the restaurant. They both dug in, Peter making obscenely happy noises into his food, which caused Wade to giggle under his breath. When their plates were clean, Wade tossed cash on the table and rounded the table, offering Peter his arm. After Peter took it, Wade leaned down and swiped his other thumb across Peter’s lip with a grin. He leaned down before Peter could speak and pressed a gentle, but firm kiss to his lips. When he pulled away, Peter felt like the air in his lungs left with him. He bit his lower lip, looking up at Wade like they were still standing in his kitchen all alone, not in public surrounded by strangers. It made Wade sigh happily before guiding Peter out of the restaurant and onto the sidewalk outside. The sun had lowered in the sky, leaving them in the dusky half darkness before the streetlights came on. Wade hailed another cab, ushering Peter into it.

Once Wade had entered the cab, Peter didn’t wait for him to pull him close. He leaned over and laid back against Wade’s chest, sighing happily. Wade ran his hand absentmindedly through Peter’s hair, humming the same tune he had been off and on all day. 

“Like a teddy bear on heroin,” Wade sung so softly that Peter almost didn’t hear him.

Peter nuzzled into his chest. “You’re making this song up.”

“Soldier’s honor, baby boy,” Wade kissed his forehead. “I’ll send it to you later if you promise not to laugh.”

“I’ll never laugh at you.” Peter suddenly got serious. “With you, definitely. Not at you.”

Wade ruffled his hair. “I know.”

And as much as it terrified Wade to admit it to himself, he did know. There was no part of him that thought that Peter could or would do anything to hurt him, a fact that scared him more than any insurgent ever had. Somehow, the thought of staring down the barrel of an enemy gun was completely normal for Wade, but the thought that Peter might actually care about him without some sort of ulterior motive or sick joke behind it was almost too much for him to handle. He had seen the way that May looked right through his scars and that was when he had known for sure. Peter was the most genuine human being he had ever met and God help anyone who ever tried to hurt his baby boy again. 


	21. Friday (cont.)

After leaving Peter at home, Wade made his way to St. Mary’s. A chorus of people cheered and howled when he walked through the doors of the bar, interspersed with a few boos.

“Wade!” Weasel called across the bar. “It had been a few days. We had a pool going on whether you had decided to off yourself or not.” He laughed. “You just won me 800 bucks.”

Wade shook his head. “Guess my drinks are on you, then.”

Setting a bottle down in front of Wade, Weasel shook his head. “And that would be different than usual, how?”

With a shrug of his shoulders, Wade tipped the bottle up and took a swig. 

“So,” Weasel said pointedly. “Prying minds want to know. Where  _ have  _ you been, if you weren’t dead in a ditch somewhere.”

Taking another swig of liquor, Wade gave Weasel a pointed look. “You can guess.”

“So did you…” Weasel didn’t finish his question.

Wade shook his head, his breath turning ragged. “Not that the kid makes it easy.”

“I still don’t see the problem.” Weasel shrugged. “Man likes boy. Boy likes man. They do the nasty and live happily ever after.”

“I got him fired.” Wade downed nearly a third of the bottle. “And then I took him to dinner.”

Weasel looked confused. “How did you get him fired?”

“He was holding my hand. His boss saw. Freaked the fuck out.” Wade put his head in his hands. “I’m gonna ruin this kid’s life before it even starts.”

A wet bar rag hit Wade in the face. “Shut the fuck up.” Weasel snapped. “You may be an asshole, but you’re the best asshole I’ve ever met.”

“He’s got a split lip and a black eye because of me.” Wade took another deep swig.

“You….” Weasel’s voice trailed off. “You hit him?”

“Fuck no!” Wade’s voice boomed across the bar, causing everyone to pause their conversations to see who was going to be getting into a fight. He took a deep breath before continuing. “Kids from his school. He broke a guy’s nose because he said something about me. Him and his friends jumped the poor kid on his way out of school. Three on one. He didn’t stand a chance. I had to pull them off of him, but I couldn’t hit a kid.”

Weasel shook his head again. “So what you’re telling me is that this kid likes you so much that he wants to hold your hand in public and defend your honor, consequences be damned. And you’re sitting here in my bar getting sloppy because this is a bad thing?”

Wade nodded, bottle still in his mouth.

“You might be the biggest idiot I’ve ever met.” 


	22. Saturday

Peter woke up early and pulled the black dress shirt and pants that he had worn only once before, to Ben’s funeral, out of his closet. It was wrinkled in several places. When he put it on he let out a sigh, thankful that it still fit, but also a little upset that he really hadn’t grown in the last two years. He looked in the mirror at himself and groaned. Picking up his phone, he dialed Gwen.

“This better be good.” Gwen yawned on the other line.

“I need help.” Peter threw his hands out to the side, holding the phone on his shoulder. “Wade invited me to some fancy military politician dinner thing at some fancy Italian restaurant and I have no idea how to tie a tie and my dress shirt is all wrinkled and I need your help!”

“Mmmmmmm,” Gwen groaned. “Give me ten minutes.”

The line went dead and Peter flopped down onto his bed. He considered calling Wade and telling him that he couldn’t go for some reason. The thought of the disappointment on Wade’s face could have killed him. He couldn’t imagine Wade suffering through a stuffy suit and tie dinner on his own for however long he had been doing it already. He pictured Wade in a suit, the way that the dress shirt would press against his muscles and show off his broad shoulders. He imagined Wade walking with him with his hand on his back again, this time for everyone else’s benefit. His skin tingled at the thought of Wade’s hands on him so casually. No more than five minutes later, Gwen burst through his door and looked him up and down.

“Alright first of all,” she gestured down his body, “you need to go take a shower. Does May still keep the ironing board behind the dryer?”

Peter flung himself across the room and hugged her tightly. “Oh my God, Gwen, you’re my hero. I owe you big time.”

“Remember that when my chem final comes around.” She snorted and waved him off.

Peter left his suit in Gwen’s hands and hopped into the shower, frantically scrubbing at himself as if he could wash away the fact that he still looked fourteen. When he finally gave up and wrapped his towel around his waist, he paused to look in the mirror before heading downstairs to join Gwen. He sighed dejectedly. There was no hope of him looking any older. He just hoped that Wade was right and that no one would say anything about it.

“Well, you smell better, at least.” Gwen smiled at him, pressing the iron into his shirt collar.

Peter smiled back. “Where did you learn how to iron?”

“Someone had to keep dad looking presentable after mom left.” She laughed. “You really think he was doing that himself?”

“Fair enough. You think I can pull this off?” He fidgeted with his hands.

Gwen looked at him in awe. “Can Peter Parker pull off being a stuffy political type for an evening? No offense, Pete, but you’ll fit right in.”

“What if they freak out cause I’m so young?” He bit his lip.

She shrugged. “Fuck ‘em.”

* * *

  
  


Wade flopped out of bed sometime around noon if he had had to guess. The sun shone through his blinds, making him groan. He tried to hide his face in Parker’s fur, but it was too late. The sun had already seen him and seemed to shine brighter just to spite him. He flopped his feet on the floor and downed the glass of water he kept on his nightstand. His phone blinked a reminder that today was ‘Torture Dinner Day’. He groaned again, half considering laying back down in bed. He remembered asking Peter to come to the dinner with him and smiled slightly. 

Standing up, Wade stretched his back out. He made his way to the bathroom, showering with the lights off in the hopes that his hangover would fade by the time he was done. He imagined Peter waking up and showering; The way that the water would slide easily off his smooth stomach with no hair to catch it. His hand drifted to his cock, palming it lazily. He couldn’t remember if he had been hard when he woke up or if that had happened thinking about Peter, but he figured he shouldn’t let a perfectly good hard-on go to waste. He let his brain drift to Peter soaping up his hair, tossing his head back into the water stream. His fist moved in quick strokes over his length. He let out a hiss, thinking about the way that Peter touched him. He focused on the way that his skin always felt like it was wrapped in silk when Peter’s hands were on him. Leaning his forehead against the shower wall, he let out a soft moan. He imagined Peter’s soft mouth wrapped around his cock instead of his hand. Hazel puppydog eyes would stare up at him, blown wide. He imagined Peter’s hands on his thighs, rubbing over the pits of his scars. For once, the thought of someone touching them didn’t make him recoil. He imagined the way that Peter’s tongue would move around his head, working his smart little brain around what way to best make him squirm. He choked out a groan, spurting cum down the shower wall. 

Breathing deeply, he rinsed himself off and stepped out of the shower. He dried himself off quickly, wincing slightly at the way the towel scratched at his scars. He shot a look over to the prescription cream he was supposed to put on them. Shrugging his shoulders, he walked out of the bathroom and to his closet, pulling out his once-a-year dress shirt and slacks. Like he did every year, he considered showing up in jeans and a T-shirt. He had joked with Stark about it one year, who had confessed that he thought the same thing every time he had to attend one of these kinds of events. For some reason, that had surprised him. He always thought of Stark as the type who enjoyed dressing up for nothing. 

With a heavy sigh, he pulled on his dress pants and dress shirt. Instead of his usual long sleeve black shirt, he went with the short sleeve red one from the very back of his closet. He was half tempted to look in the mirror, but decided against it, afraid that he would change his mind if he saw himself. Walking out the door of his apartment building, he hailed a cab and rattled off Peter’s address, his heart jumping in his chest the whole way there. 


	23. Saturday (cont.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I missed a couple days of updating, but as my apology here is a long chapter. It's one of my favorite ones of the whole story so far!

When Peter saw Wade’s text that he was outside, he turned to Gwen with a panicked look on his face.

“Give ‘em hell, Tiger.” She pulled him by the hand to the front door and dragged him to the cab.

Peter looked up and saw Wade holding the door open in his dress clothes. His breath hitched in his throat. He could feel his heart pounding. When his breath finally returned, all he could say was: “Wow.”

Gwen laughed next to him, pushing him forward into Wade’s waiting arms. “You two better not wrinkle that shirt before you even get there.” She started to walk towards her own house, but whipped around again. “Wait!” She ran back to them. “May will kill me if she finds out I let you two leave without getting a picture. Come up on the porch for a minute.” 

Peter looked up at Wade who shrugged and moved onto the porch with him. He stood with his arm over Peter’s shoulders, both of them smiling politely. Just as Gwen moved to snap the picture, Wade brought his other hand up to Peter’s chin and planted a soft kiss on his lips.

“You two are adorable.” Gwen beamed, running up and hugging them both. “Now get out of here and have fun.”

Wade guided Peter to sit in the backseat of the cab like he had done the day before, somehow seeming just as casual now that they were both dressed up.

“Nervous?” Wade nudged Peter with his elbow.

Peter nodded slightly. “I’ve never been to anything like this.”

Wade kissed his temple. “You’ll be great. Everyone is gonna love you.”

When they pulled up outside the restaurant, Peter saw a much different scene than the one that they had been a part of less than 24 hours before. People poured onto the sidewalk in long lines. Several of them, Peter recognized. The mayor stood near the front of the line, greeting people and taking pictures. Several senators milled around, chatting with various people. He heard and then saw Tony Stark’s signature red sports car round the corner and whip up to the sidewalk. Tony Stark himself stepped out, a beautiful redhead on his arm, and tossed his keys to a valet. Peter gripped into Wade’s arm, trying to contain his excitement. 

“C’mon,” Wade whispered in Peter’s ear, guiding him towards where Tony Stark stood, chatting up a crowd of people. 

“Wade Wilson!” Stark’s voice carried over the crowd, which he broke away from to approach them. “And friend?” He looked down at Peter.

“Peter Parker,” Wade gestured towards him. “Meet Tony Stark.”

Peter couldn’t help his jaw dropping. 

“Call me Tony, please.” He laughed deeply, reaching out for Peter’s hand.

Taking the handshake, Peter tried to force a smile. “I’ve been listening to you talk about portable arc reactors a lot lately.”

“More like constantly.” Wade interjected. 

Tony’s eyebrows rose. “And what do you think about my work thus far?”

“It’s… It’s a little rudimentary.” Peter mumbled. “But I could see a lot of future applications if you could make it work.”

“Aaaaaand.” Wade urged, his voice almost a squeak.

“I think it’s irresponsible and stupid to throw untested arc reactors into the hands of the public, though. Even if it doesn’t happen often, some of them will melt down and the general public is not equipped to handle that. People could die.”

Tony threw back his head and laughed. “Do you have a job, kiddo? Whatever they’re paying you, I’ll triple it. Come work with me. Test them yourself.”

Peter’s jaw dropped open again. “You’re not serious.”

“Serious as a heart attack.” He winked. “What are they paying you? Thirty grand? I’ll make it an even hundred a year.”

“Triple nothing is still nothing, so I guess that gets me an unpaid internship.” Peter smiled, starting to relax into their banter.

“You’re a terrible businessman.” Tony shook his head. “Eighty a year it is.”

Peter looked from Wade to Tony quickly. He couldn’t find words.

“Told you he was gonna love you, Petey.” Wade ruffled his hair.

“Now I gotta ask though,” Tony gestured between them. “What’s going on here? And what happened there?” He pointed at Peter’s bandaged hand.

Wade shrugged. “Kid was working at a coffee shop. I like the cut of his jib.”

“I like the cut of his abs.” Peter slapped a hand over his mouth.

Tony and Wade both looked shocked for a second before both keeling over laughing. 

“I can see why you two get along,” Tony caught his breath. “But seriously though. You weight what, eight pounds? What happened to the hand?”

Wade smiled slightly. “You should see the other guy.”

Tony’s eyebrows tightened slightly, but he seemed to decide to drop it. “I’ve got to go make some appearances, but here’s my number, kid. My actual number, not the one on the business card.” He handed Peter a slip of paper with a number on it. “Call me on Monday, that’s my personal cell. We’ll get you into HR and working next week.”

“Thanks so much, Mr. Stark,” Peter replied.

“Please,” Tony answered. “Mr. Stark was my father. I’m just Tony.”

After Tony had walked away, Wade guided Peter to the inside of the restaurant. Peter could see the way that the people around them were staring and whispering to each other. It made his blood boil, but he tried to control the daggers flying out of his eyes. Instead, he channeled his inner Aunt May and gave everyone he caught staring the sweetest smile and wave that he could muster. The host waved them over to him immediately and whispered something in Wade’s ear. Wade nodded, ushering Peter back to the same booth they had shared the day before. 

“We might have some company,” Wade said, scooting into the same side of the booth as Peter. 

Peter grinned. “You don’t have to lie to me. You can just say you want to be close to me.”

Wade leaned down and planted a kiss on his temple. “I thought that part went without saying.”

Looking around the room, Peter noticed that people were still staring and whispering. “What do you think they’re talking about?” 

“I’m sure they’re wondering how scum like me got so lucky. Or wondering if you’re a prostitute.” He shrugged.

Peter’s face flushed bright red. “You- You’re kidding, right? You don’t think anyone actually thinks that I’m-”

“Relax, baby boy.” Wade interrupted. “Everyone here knows there’s not a single prostitute in the state who would have me. I’ve been coming to this thing alone for years for a reason.” He laughed. 

“I’m sorry,” Peter’s face fell.

“Hey, no sad stuff tonight. Tonight we are going to be happy and adorable and make all these stuffy old codgers uncomfortable in the hopes that they take me off the list next year.” Wade ruffled Peter’s hair.

Peter’s hand came up to link fingers with Wade’s where it was draped over his shoulder. His thumb rubbed absentminded circles on Wade’s hand. He watched the steady stream of people being seated around them. He noticed that a lot of them wore very obviously military uniforms. Wade smiled, keeping one eye on the rest of the room to see who was coming and going and the other on Peter’s awestruck face. 

An older man approached their booth with a wide smile on his face. “Wilson! Who would have thought we’d see you with a date this year.”

“General.” Wade nodded. “This is Peter.”

Peter kept his mouth shut, staring wide-eyed at the man in front of him. He was definitely older, but without seeing the grey in his hair and scruff, you wouldn’t have known it. He wore very clearly marked military dress uniforms and carried himself like he had seen several combat tours and wasn’t afraid of another. If Peter was being honest, he intimidated him. He wasn’t as muscular as Wade, but there was something about him that made him seem much more homicidal. 

“Very nice to meet you, Peter.” He nodded sharply. “You ever thought about joining the army, my boy?”

“No.” Wade’s voice was sharp, answering before Peter had even thought about the question. 

The man nodded. “I see. I’ll leave you two to it, then.”

“Nice to see you go.” Wade muttered under his breath when the General was safely out of earshot. 

Peter nuzzled up to Wade’s neck. “Who was that?” 

“He was my commanding officer for a while. Earned himself a nice promotion with the sweat off our brow.” Wade growled.

Peter planted a soft kiss behind Wade’s ear, which instantly softened him. Wade let himself relax into Peter. Once it seemed that almost everyone had been seated, Tony appeared at the end of their booth.

“Fancy that.” He smirked. “Looks like we get to share a table this year. Funny how that worked out.”

“Who’d you bribe?” Peter laughed.

Tony’s mouth dropped open. “Oh I  _ really  _ like this kid, even if he does underestimate the power of a very polite request.”

“I’m pretty fond of him myself.” Wade squeezed Peter’s hand. 

Peter blushed. 

“Now, boys,” the redhead with Tony spoke up. “Let’s not embarrass the poor boy too much. Especially you, Tony. You’ve only just met him.” She turned back to Wade and Peter after sliding into the booth with Tony. “My name is Pepper, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you,” Peter smiled.

Someone in the middle of the room tapped their fork on their glass. He was a large, dark-skinned man with a patch over one eye. He stood perfectly squared and straight, eyes scanning the room. Something about his face screamed “fuck with me, I dare you”. All heads turned to listen to him speak.

“Hello, everyone! It’s so nice of you all to join us again this year for our annual middle-eastern military officers correspondents dinner. As you all know, we would love to be able to put an end to these dinners someday, but unfortunately our enemy seems to want this war to go on forever. I’d like to take a moment to ask that all of our soldiers in the room, please stand up so that we can see you.” 

Wade kissed Peter’s temple, then stood up next to the booth. His arms crossed behind his back and he stood up straighter than Peter had ever seen him. It was like looking at a completely different person. A man a few tables over stood up the same way, his bionic arm crossing behind his back the same way Wade’s arms did. Peter marveled at the technology, shooting a look over at Tony who responded with an exaggerated wink and a smirk. Another man across the room stood up, helped by his date. He seemed to have one integrated bionic and one traditional prosthetic. Peter made a mental note to ask Tony about the technology later. A woman holding a baby stood up, scars criss-crossing half of her face. Dozens more soldiers joined them and the room erupted into a round of applause. None of the people standing moved a muscle, all of them completely focused on the man attempting to speak.

“I want to extend the most sincere thanks to every one of you. Without all of you, the world would be a much more dangerous place. The sacrifice that you all have made is not one that your government takes lightly, nor one that the people of New York take lightly. I know we have several New Yorkers in the room who remember waking up to the smell of smoke and the sight of ashes falling outside their windows.”

Peter’s eyes welled up with tears. He didn’t know a single person who didn’t know someone who had died on 9/11. Looking around the room at all of the soldiers still standing at attention, he wondered how many of them enlisted thinking about kids like him when the towers fell. Pepper reached across the table, offering her hand. Peter took it gratefully. She gave his hand a soft squeeze and when he looked up at her he saw that her eyes were glossy too. 

“That is a fear that America had not been gripped by since Pearl Harbor. In the face of that fear, you all responded. You gave your all to keep your country safe. There is never a way to full repay the sacrifices you all have made, but we are committed to spending every resource available to try.”

A few people around the room clapped. Peter saw a few soldiers look to Wade. He couldn’t see his face, but he could see the way the muscles in his back were tensed.

“Tonight, we would also like to extend our most heartfelt thanks to everyone who has donated to our veterans. Most especially, Mr. Tony Stark, who has pioneered the bionic technology that has allowed so many of our wounded veterans to live normal lives, at absolutely no cost to them. There are not enough thanks in the world for you, Mr. Stark. From myself and all of us in the military: Thank you.”

Tony nodded towards the man, blushing slightly when the room clapped for him.

“Now that we’ve all remembered why we’re supposed to be here, let’s get on to the reason we’re all actually here, shall we? I’m told that the kitchen has been working diligently to prepare some amazing food and an anonymous donor has been kind enough to put everyone’s drinks for the night on their tab, so there will be an open bar until 11. Let’s keep it classy though, fellas, alright? I remember what the bars near the base are like. If anyone needs a cab, we will be more than happy to cover the fare to get you all home safe. Your car will be safe with the valet until Monday afternoon, so please, do not drive. Alright, that’s enough of listening to me talk. Enjoy your dinner everyone and thank you again.”

After the man sat down, the room applauded again and the soldiers scattered around the room resumed their seats at their tables one by one. Wade slid back into the booth with Peter, bringing his arm back around his shoulders, only slightly more tense than he had been before listening to the speech.

“That’s what you need the portable arc reactors for, isn’t it?” Peter blurted out at Tony.

Tony grinned. “Until you work for me and sign an NDA, I can neither confirm or deny that.” He shot Peter another wink.

Peter’s jaw dropped and Wade started laughing. His brain moved a mile a minute trying to figure out how they had managed to put an arc reactor into a bionic without compromising the safety of the person it was attached to. His heart raced, thinking about the fact that on Monday he was going to be working for the company that had done that. With a pretty hefty salary, no less. It occurred to him that he wasn’t sure if Tony knew how old he was and that he would have to be at school during the week. He had to assume that Tony figured he was young. He wasn’t exactly a picture of adulthood, even when he tried. 

A waiter appeared next to their table with steaks for Peter, Wade, and Tony and what looked like veggie stir-fry for Pepper. They thanked him and started to tuck in, eating their meals in relative quiet. Wade was reluctant to move his arm from Peter’s shoulder, but resigned himself to the fact that he was going to have to. Instead, he spread his legs slightly, pressing his thigh up against Peter’s. Since he had started getting used to touching another person, he never wanted to not be touching him somehow. It was like his brain was trying to make up for all the years of nothing by being in constant contact with Peter. He saw the slight smile on Peter’s face when their legs touched and it made his heart melt. 

By the time they finished eating, the room had increased in volume significantly. Looking around, Peter assumed that that had something to do with the open bar. Everyone looked a little more happy and a little more pink and most of them had drinks in their hands. Wade’s arm wrapped back around his shoulder. 

Looking over at Tony, he spoke again. “I should probably be getting Cinderella home.”

“You?” Tony’s jaw dropped. “Leaving before getting utterly obliterated?”

Wade’s jaw tightened a little. He hadn’t explicitly said anything to Peter about his drinking. “What can I say? He’s a good influence.” He forced a smile.

“Not even one drink, boys?” Tony looked between them.

Peter blushed deeply. “I, uh, I’m not old enough.”

“Well that’s unexpected.” Tony grinned. “How old  _ are  _ you, kiddo, if you don’t mind me asking?” After a brief pause he continued. “You’ve still got the job no matter how young you are.”

“Sixteen.” Peter looked down at his lap. “I’m graduating this year though.”

“What took you so long?” There was a challenge in Tony’s voice.

“My uncle. He raised me. He died a couple years ago. I took a semester off.” Wade’s hand squeezed his shoulder gently.

“Good on you for still finishing early.” Tony nodded. “Wade, I never took you for the type that likes them young.”

“I’m not.” Wade spoke through gritted teeth.

Tony shrugged. “No judgement from me, pal. Kiddo is certainly a whole lot smarter than you, so I think it’s pretty safe to say you aren’t manipulating him.”

Peter and Wade shared a surprised look. It was Peter who finally spoke. “I appreciate that.”

“No problem, kid. The only real question is what you possibly see in this guy.”

Wade’s face dropped. 

“Everything.” Peter sighed, without hesitation, his eyes locked on Wade’s face. 

“Leave the boys be, Tony.” Pepper spoke softly. “You wouldn’t know what love looked like if it bit you on the ass.”

Tony put his hands out in defeat. “You heard the lady. Enjoy your evening, boys. Peter, I still expect you to call me on Monday to iron out details. After school is fine.”

Wade stood up out of the booth, dropping his arm from Peter’s shoulder to take his hand. 

“Thanks so much, Mr.Sta- Tony.” Peter smiled broadly. “It was so nice to meet you, Pepper.”

“I’m sure we’ll see each other again.” She smiled back. “You take care of Wade, alright? Keep him honest.”

Peter and Wade were both startled that it was Peter being told to take care of him, but they smiled and headed towards the door. A few men in military dress saluted Wade on their way by and he saluted them back. Once they had exited the building, Wade turned to Peter and hugged him tightly around the waist. With a single motion, he lifted Peter off the ground and spun him around once before setting him back on his feet. Peter smiled, standing up on his toes and pressing a chaste kiss to Wade’s lips. A low growl rose up out of Wade’s throat. His hands tightened ever so slightly on Peter’s waist. When they pulled apart, Peter noticed the way his eyes had dilated.

Wade held an arm up for a cab, which pulled up quickly. He held the door open for Peter and guided him into the back seat. He sat down, pulling Peter close. He was about to give the cabbie Peter’s address, but his mouth moved faster than his brain and gave his own. He gave Peter a panicked look. Peter just smiled up at him, resting his head on his shoulder. Wade spent the whole ride with his heart pounding, nervous about having Peter in his space even though he had been to his house. He tried to remember if anyone had ever been in this apartment and decided that Weasel must have been at some point. After all, someone had to drag his drunk ass up the stairs when he couldn’t walk it. 


	24. Saturday (cont.)

Wade’s hands shook, making him fumble with his keys. He took a deep breath before turning the key in his door. He wondered if Peter could see his nerves bubbling. Peter leaned casually against the wall, his eyes focused on Wade’s face. He wondered why Wade seemed so nervous all of a sudden. He reached a hand out, placing it on Wade’s arm. His hands seemed to settle a bit as he pushed the door open, extending an arm for Peter to walk in first. 

Shutting the door behind them, Wade didn’t dare look at Peter’s face. He knew his house was an absolute disaster. Dirty dishes overflowed the sink. There was coffee sitting in the pot that he didn’t remember ever making. Empty liquor bottles lined the countertops, waiting for him to get around to recycling them. A pair of his pants had somehow found their way onto the collapsible table that sat in his kitchen. There was a reason he never brought anyone here, other than the fact that no one had ever wanted to come before. 

Peter turned around and Wade expected him to comment on the mess. Instead, he flung himself at Wade, wrapping his arms around his neck. Their mouths crashed together, Peter nipping at his bottom lip with a sense of desperation. Once the shock wore off Wade let himself get lost in the kiss. He gripped onto Peter’s hips, pulling their bodies flush against each other and lifting Peter off the ground. Peter’s legs moved of their own accord, wrapping around Wade’s waist. He whimpered into Wade’s mouth, his hands running over Wade’s scarred scalp. Wade couldn’t help the trembling moan that rose up and out of his throat. He let his hands fall to grip Peter’s perfectly shaped ass. When they did, Peter’s hips rolled into him and pressed his growing erection between them. 

“Peter,” Wade pulled away and panted. 

Peter pressed their mouths back together.”

Wade turned his face slightly. “Sweetheart, we gotta slow down.”

Peter whined slightly. “Wade, I want you.”

“I know you think you do, baby boy, but I,” he choked slightly, “I need you to take it easy, okay? It’s… It’s been a while.”

“Mmm,” Peter kissed down the side of Wade’s neck. “You were my first real kiss, you know.”

Wade let out a soft groan in response, gripping his fingers a little tighter into Peter’s ass. “Not gonna make it easy on me, are you?”

“Mm mmm,” Peter mumbled into the hollow of Wade’s throat. He continued to kiss and suck on Wade’s neck, seemingly oblivious to the thick scars. Wade felt a shiver run down his spine. Somehow, he had never realized before just how sensitive his scar tissue could be to things that weren’t pain. He turned and carried Peter to his bedroom, the only other room in the apartment.

Setting Peter down on the edge of the bed, Wade pulled back just enough to be able to kiss down the front of his throat. Peter let out a series of soft whines, his legs falling away from Wade’s waist just enough to allow him to trail down Peter’s body. He knelt on the floor between Peter’s feet, looking up at his beautiful hazel eyes that were wide with lust. Peter leaned back onto his elbows, giving Wade access to the clasp of his dress pants. With feather-light touches, Wade unclasped them, sliding his pants and boxers down to his knees. Peter’s cock bounced free, dripping pre-cum from the head already. He hissed through his teeth, gripping at Wade’s sheets. 

Wade ran his hands up Peter’s bare thighs, panting through his teeth. “Can I?” He looked up at Peter’s face.

“Please.” Peter’s voice peaked in a whine.

That was all the permission Wade needed. He dipped his head, taking the head of Peter’s cock into his mouth. He groaned slightly at the taste, his eyes fluttering shut. His tongue rolled circles around it, dipping under the tiny lip of his foreskin. Peter’s head fell backward and he let out a soft cry that was quickly muffled by him biting his lip. Wade smiled around his cock, taking the rest of his length down to the back of his throat. He moaned again at the feeling of having his mouth completely full. Looking up, he watched the way Peter’s chest heaved with every slight movement of his tongue. He loved watching the way Peter was coming undone all because of him.

Peter lifted his head to watch as Wade took his cock all the way into his mouth again. The sight of Wade’s blue eyes looking back up at him with a mouthful of his cock was the sexiest thing Peter had ever seen in his life. One of his hands left the sheets to stroke the side of Wade’s face. Wade’s eyelids fluttered and he felt the vibrations of a low moan around his cock. He let out a high pitched moan when Wade’s throat made swallowing motions around him. It was like nothing he had ever felt before. He could feel the tightness building in his lower abdomen. 

“Wade,” he whined.

Wade could feel the way that Peter’s cock was jerking and knew he was getting close. Hearing Peter call out his name like that had his own cock twitching in his pants the same way. He could feel his hips rolling, searching for any kind of friction against his pants. He humped at the air desperately, listening to the soft, stuttered cries that Peter was making. Without warning, Peter’s hand was scratching at the back of his head, like he meant to pull him off of his cock. Wade nuzzled deeper against Peter’s skin, swallowing around his cock in preparation for the cum that he very much wanted to fell against his throat. With a loud cry, Peter’s cock spurted into his mouth. The feeling of it had Wade’s cock spasming in his pants and he felt the wet spot against him, but couldn’t bring himself to care. 

Peter’s hand stilled on the back of Wade’s head and he collapsed backwards onto the bed. “That was…” He panted. “Wade that was amazing.”

Wade smiled, sucking lightly as he pulled off of Peter’s softening cock until it fell out his mouth with a slight popping sound. He climbed up onto the bed next to Peter, resting his head on the smaller boy’s chest and draping an arm over him. Peter’s arm wrapped around Wade’s back and his other came up to hold his hand. He lifted his head slightly, pressing a kiss to Wade’s forehead.

“You’re amazing,” Peter mumbled sleepily.

Wade snuggled into Peter’s side. “You probably shouldn’t stay, baby boy.” He heard his voice crack when he spoke.

Peter sighed softly. “I know. Five more minutes.” After a paused he added. “Hey Wade? Can you show me our song?”

Wade couldn’t help but smile. He let go of Peter’s hand, reaching into his back pocket and pulling his phone out. He pressed a few buttons and Peter heard the soft tune that Wade had been humming come out of the phone’s speakers. Wade sang along under his breath, almost so quiet that Peter couldn’t hear him.

 

_ Oh I love you, I wish you got the flu _

_ So that I can take care of you,  _

_ Like you take care of me _

 

_ I’m such a Florence, a real Florence Nightingale _

_ I’ll fluff your pillows, I’ll buy you a SpiderMan comic _

_ and read to you til you fall asleep. _

 

_ Sleep on my shoulder, I won’t wake you _

_ Even if my back turns crooked and I have to walk _

_ With a limp for a week. _

 

Peter smiled and kissed Wade on the forehead again. “It’s perfect.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone wondering, this is Wade's pick for their song. <3
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTbxomSX7H4


	25. Saturday (cont.)

Wade left Peter at home somewhat reluctantly and much later than he had originally planned on. He made his way back to the cab, directing the driver to take him back home instead of to St. Mary’s like he had originally planned. Something about spending the evening with Peter had put him off of drinking, a fact that he was trying desperately to not read too far into. During the quiet ride back to his apartment, he thought about the way Peter’s cock had felt in his mouth and the now-dried wet spot on his dress pants. He wondered if the embarrassment of having them dry-cleaned was worth it or if he should just buy a new pair and toss them. He smiled to himself, imagining Peter stripping out of his dress clothes and changing into some kind of adorable pajama pants. Probably superhero themed. He seemed like a superhero kid. Despite the fact that thinking about Peter’s age still made Wade’s stomach clench uncomfortably, he couldn’t help but realize that he was somewhat attracted to his innocence. Hearing that he had been Peter’s first kiss had been terrifying, but also electrifying. Everything about the kid was a lesson in the duality of man.

When the cab pulled up outside his building, Wade tipped the driver generously. He made his way up the stairs, tossing his clothes somewhere in his bedroom without really looking to see where they landed. He made his way into his bathroom, turning the water on. The heat made him hiss slightly when it first ran over his scarred body, but after the initial shock it soothed away the itchiness that was constantly nagging at the back of his mind. Grabbing the soap off the side of his shower, he scrubbed at himself. He squeezed his eyes shut. The soap burned more than usual. When he opened his eyes, he noticed that the shower floor had run red with blood. Looking down, he realized that somehow he had split open some of the scars on his chest. He wondered to himself if it had anything to do with the fact that he hadn’t been using the ridiculous lotion that the doctors had prescribed. 

Letting the water flow over him, he realized that several places on his arms had split open. Blood ran down his whole body. The water stung where it hit the open wounds, causing Wade to whimper in pain. Eventually he gave up on the idea of showering and stepped out onto a towel that had been tossed onto the bathroom floor. Grabbing a different towel, he dried off as best he could before grabbing the tube of cream off the counter. He slathered his whole body in it, even though it irritated the places where his skin was cracking. Throwing the towel he had dried off with onto his bed, he collapsed into a heap, too worried about bleeding on Parker to even pull him close for comfort. He spent his night tossing and turning, being awoken from any sleep by the pain that radiated over his whole body.


	26. Sunday

Peter stretched his back out with a long groan. He rolled over and grabbed his phone, shooting off a quick text to Wade before getting up to get in the shower. 

 

**< Peter: Morning, hot stuff. *kissy emoji*>**

**< Wade: Hey, baby boy *heart emoji*>**

**< Peter: I had so much fun last night.>**

**< Wade: Me too, sweetheart. I’m glad you came.>**

**< Peter: What are you up to today?>**

**< Wade: I didn’t sleep so well, so hopefully a nap>**

**< Peter: I’m sorry, is that my fault?>**

**< Wade: No no no, baby boy. My skin>**

**< Peter: Is there anything I can do?>**

**< Wade: I’ll be okay>**

**< Peter: That’s not what I asked you>**

**< Wade: Really, honey, I’m fine>**

**< Peter: But is there anything I can do that will make you better?>**

**< Wade: Maybe stop by and say hello? *blushing emoji*>**

**< Peter: Let me shower and i’ll be right over>**

**< Wade: *heart emoji*>**

 

Peter flicked the water on and jumped in the shower before the water had warmed all the way. The cold splash made goosebumps rise up all over his skin. He realized that he and Wade hadn’t even really talked about how his skin actually affected him. He wondered if it hurt all the time. Grabbing his body wash, he gave himself a quick once-over with a washcloth, skipping washing his hair. He hopped out of the shower, toweling off in a hurry. He called for a cab from his phone before he even had clothes on, which forced him to run down the stairs with his shirt halfway on, tugging it down the rest of the way as he walked out the door. At the last second, he thought to grab his backpack from next to the door, in case he spent longer at Wade’s than he was planning on. He repeated Wade’s address to the cab driver, who drove quickly to Wade’s apartment building. 

Taking the stairs two at a time, Peter found himself rapping on the door before his brain had even processed that he was back at Wade’s house. When Wade answered, Peter’s heart felt like it had torn in two. Deep purple bags puffed out under his bright blue eyes. He was wearing only a pair of baggy sweatpants, leaving his chest exposed. Peter’s stomach flipped at the sight of Wade’s bare chest and he felt his pants get just a little bit tighter. Wade’s skin had split open in a few places. He winced when he moved, like everything was hurting him. He stared down at his feet, looking like he was afraid to make eye contact with Peter. All Peter could do was step into the apartment and close the door behind him, reaching a hand out to place his fingers softly on Wade’s cheek.

“What happened?” Peter bit his lip, imagining how much it must hurt.

Wade winced slightly, walking back through the open door to his bedroom and flopping down on a bloody towel on his bed. “Haven’t been putting medicine on.” his voice was muffled by the bed.

Peter followed him into the bedroom. “Do you need help? I can help. I can do it for you if you need help.”

Everything in Wade screamed at him to not let Peter suffer through that. He didn’t want to touch his own body, why would anyone else want to touch it? But the way Peter’s hand came down and ghosted so gently over his back quieted the ongoing riot in his head about how horrible he looked. He nodded slightly. “It’s on the bathroom counter.”

Peter stood up and retrieved the cream from Wade’s bathroom counter, popping the cap off and squirting some into his hand. He knelt down on the bed, with one leg on either side of Wade’s hips. His hands started at Wade’s shoulders, rubbing cream into them and pushing against many years’ worth of knots that were twisting in his back. He let out a groan, which caused Peter to pull away like he had been burned. The sudden loss of contact hurt Wade more than any touch from Peter ever could.

“That was a good sound.” Wade mumbled.

One of Peter’s hands resumed its circling motions on Wade’s shoulders while the other squeezed more of the cream onto Wade’s spine. Once there was a generous amount on Wade’s back, both of Peter’s hands started kneading their way through the knots in his shoulders. He ground his palms into the especially tight ones and used the backs of his knuckles on the ones that were smaller. Wade let himself relax into Peter’s hands, as if he could have stayed tense if he had tried. His shoulders started to feel like jelly.

When his shoulders were fully relaxed, Peter moved his hands down to the sides of Wade’s ribcage. He carefully avoided the spots where the skin was split open, rolling the muscles under his hands around them. He could feel the way that Wade’s breath would hitch in his chest whenever he worked his way through an especially tight knot. He enjoyed the candid access to Wade’s mostly naked body that he was getting. He could see that the scars did, in fact, cover every inch of him and there was not a single piece of hair on his body. The most striking thing about Wade being naked, though, was how much solid muscle he really was. 

Peter moved his hands slightly further down Wade’s back to his tailbone, pressing the heels of his palms on either side of his spine. Wade let out a long whine as Peter pushed his palms up along the sides of his spine, easing the tension in the muscles there. Peter bit into his lip to stifle the sounds that wanted to climb out of his throat. The sight of Wade beneath him was making his abdomen tense and flex in time with the movements of his hands. He was almost positive that Wade could feel his erection against his ass, but was too distracted by his hands to notice. When his hands reached the back of Wade’s neck, he moved them around the sides of his neck to rub soft circles in the muscles behind his jaw. Wade’s eyes fluttered, his whole body turning soft under Peter’s gentle hands. He couldn’t remember ever having gotten a massage before in his life, even before the scars. 

Peter leaned forward and kissed the back of Wade’s neck. “A little better?”

“Mmmmmmm,” was all Wade could make come out of his mouth.

“I’m taking that as a yes,” Peter laughed. “Have you eaten today? Or had some water? Do you want me to order lunch?”

Wade gestured at the empty cup on his bedside table that had been full of water. Peter swung his legs off of Wade’s hips and took the empty cup to the kitchen, filling it with cool water from the tap. When he returned he stroked the back of Wade’s head until he rolled on his said and sat up slightly. Peter held the cup up to his lips for him, helping him drink nearly half the glass in one gulp. Once he had downed the glass, Peter set it aside and pet the back of his head again.

“Feel better?” Peter asked softly.

Wade nodded slightly. 

“I’m ordering food. You’re going to eat some, whether you want to or not.” Peter’s voice was firm and commanding. It sent shivers down Wade’s spine. As much as he had hated being told what to do all the time in the army, he thought he could get used to Peter being bossy. “Can you give me some kind of hint about what you would prefer to eat?”

Without actually answering, Wade pulled opened the drawer on his bedside table, which contained what Peter assumed to be every take out menu for every place that would deliver to his apartment. Peter let out a slight laugh. 

“Pizza? No, probably too greasy, huh? Indian? Too much spice for me. Ooooh, what about Chinese? I haven’t had Chinese in forever.”

“If we’re getting Chinese it’s gotta be Momma Wu’s.” 

“Deal.” Peter pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed the number for the Chinese place. He ordered several different things so that they could pig out and also because he was starving and wanted to make sure that Wade actually got some. When Peter hung the phone up, he noticed that Wade had sat himself up on the side of the bed, looking a little more alive than he had when he answered the door. “Hey big fella. You look a little better.”

“You don’t have to do all this,” Wade’s face fell. “I’m sure you have better things to be doing. Homework or something?”

Peter pointed at where he had dropped his backpack by the door. “I come prepared.”

Wade squealed. “You mean I get to watch you nerd out?”

“If that’s what you want to call graduating high school, yes.” Peter stuck his tongue out at Wade.

“Careful, baby boy. You stick that out and I’ll make you use it.”

Peter walked forward to stand between Wade’s knees. Wade’s hands came to rest on the backs of his legs and he rested his forehead on Peter’s stomach. He smiled, enjoying being able to feel protective of Wade even though he was smaller. Something about Wade brought out his desire to be nurturing and protective at the same time as he wanted to rail him through the floor. It was a very confusing combination of emotions for Peter. Instead of dwelling on it, he chose to enjoy being able to act protective while Wade was feeling vulnerable. He brought his hands down to stroke the back of Wade’s head, keeping him tight against his stomach. 

Wade leaned into Peter, letting himself fully relax into the smaller boy. Something about the way that Peter held him made him feel incredibly safe in a way that he couldn’t ever remember feeling. It was like his body knew that Peter would care for him even before his brain had fully gotten on board. Just when his eyelids started to feel heavy and he was about to let himself drift into sleep, there was a knock on his door. Peter disappeared from between his knees and went to answer the door, returning with armfuls of Chinese food.


	27. Chapter 27

Peter sucked an especially long lo mein noodle into his mouth with a loud pop. He and Wade both laughed loudly and Wade popped another chicken finger into his mouth. Peter’s feet rested across Wade’s lap with take out containers piled on top of them. Every once in a while, he moved slightly, rubbing against Wade’s lap. Their hands brushed over each other when they reached for the same containers. Something about being touched so casually made Wade’s heart swell. He couldn’t help but think about doing the same thing every day with Peter. He imagined Peter walking in his door and giving him kisses so casually. When reality struck and he remembered that Peter was still only sixteen and that wouldn’t be possible for at least a few more years, he had to hide the disappointment on his face from Peter. 

Once they were both so full they might burst, Peter cleaned the leftovers up. He stuck them into Wade’s fridge, noting that the only thing  _ in  _ Wade’s fridge was the container of leftover spaghetti that May had practically had to threaten him to get him to take. He grabbed his backpack before heading back into Wade’s bedroom, sitting down on the end of his bed to rifle through his books. He pulled out his laptop and copy of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and let out a dramatic sigh. 

“Yuck.” Wade made a face. “I never liked Shakespeare much.”

Peter smiled. “That’s because teachers don’t teach it right.”

“Teach me, then, senpai.” 

“So I’m writing a paper on this right now,” Peter held up the book. “And it’s about how everyone reads it wrong and takes it way too seriously. Shakespeare is  _ funny _ and it was written for peasants.”

“Funny? Shakespeare?” Wade cocked his head to one side. “Pete, I know you have a sense of humor in there somewhere so I’m gonna try and trust you on this one. Just know that if this is an elaborate ruse to convince me to listen to that drivel again I may never forgive you.”

“So this line, right?” Peter pointed to a page. “O wall, full often hast thou heard my moans, For parting my fair Pyramus and me! My cherry lips have often kiss'd thy stones, Thy stones with lime and hair knit up in thee.” Peter read the line and snorted slightly.

“I don’t get it.” Wade’s voice trailed off.

Peter laughed. “She’s an actor crossdressing in a play within the play. And the wall is also an actor. So the stones….” Peter raised his eyebrows at Wade.

“Oh. My. God.” Wade’s jaw dropped. “That’s a ball joke. She/He’s been blowing the wall!”

Peter nodded. “Exactly. A few minutes later she says ‘ I kiss the wall's hole, not your lips at all.’ ” Peter watched the way that Wade’s eyes started to bulge out of his head.

“And they teach this to schoolchildren.” Wade shook his head. “They wonder why so many turn out to be deviants. All this subliminal messaging.”

“No no, you haven’t heard the best part yet!” Peter searched through a couple of pages. “Here. So when they exit the scene the wall gets a line. ‘ Thus have I, Wall, my part discharged so; And, being done, thus Wall away doth go.’” Peter traced his finger along it so that Wade could read along over his shoulder. “So he’s a wall… But his “part” has been “discharged”.” Peter waggled his eyebrows.

“Where were you when I was in high school, you beautiful, perverted little minx!?” Wade cupped both of Peter’s cheeks his hands.

“Uhhh,” Peter did some quick math. “Still drinking out of a bottle?”

“Wow,” Wade laughed. “Way to kill my erection, Petey.”

Peter gave Wade an exaggerated pout and puppy eyes. “Want me to fix it?”

Wade gagged slightly and felt his pants tighten. “No. Nope. Nuh uh.” 

“Offer stands.” Peter shrugged and turned back to his laptop, tapping away at the keys. 

Wade moved so that he could read over Peter’s shoulder while he was typing, even though he could only barely understand what he was getting at for most of the essay. He assumed that that meant Peter was just that much smarter than he was. Watching his fingers glide over the keys so effortlessly made Wade’s mind drift to the other things he might be able to do with those fingers. He daydreamed about Peter turning around and pushing him down on the bed. How he would use those long fingers to push his thighs apart. How he would shove them into Wade’s mouth. How they probably tasted like books because of course Peter would taste like books. How deep they could climb inside of him. How they would spread him apart. He swore he heard himself whine, but either Peter was too engrossed in his paper to notice or he was kind enough to ignore it because he assumed that it was from pain. He wondered how similar Peter’s cock might be to his hands. Long and smooth; Effortless. 

Peter picked his head up from his paper for a brief moment and heard Wade let out a soft sigh from behind him. He turned his head, planting a quick kiss on Wade’s lips which seemed to snap him out of whatever he had been thinking about. Peter stretched his arms out over his head with an exaggerated groan. He let himself flop backwards on top of Wade, laughing at the yelp of surprise that came out of him. Wade’s arms wrapped around him, making Peter feel so very small. Wade’s arms were so big that he was able to grab onto his own elbows. He nuzzled into the top of Peter’s head.

“Nap break?” Peter yawned.

Wade sighed slightly into Peter’s hair. “A boy after my heart.”

Peter wiggled himself around in Wade’s arms so that they were facing each other. It was then that Peter noticed a very large unicorn sitting at the head of Wade’s bed against the wall. He smiled, recognizing the toy that he had given Wade on their first date. Planting another soft kiss on Wade’s lips, he let his cheek rest on Wade’s bare chest. He could hear the way that the much larger man’s heart was pounding. He wondered how much his skin was still hurting him.

“Is this okay?” Peter lifted his head to look at Wade again. “I’m not - This doesn’t hurt you, does it?”

Wade shook his head, his eyes closed. “Baby boy, nothing you do hurts me.” His voice was low and he sounded exhausted.

Peter felt his face flush. He laid his head back down on Wade’s chest. The deep  _ thu-THUMP  _ rang in his ears. Wade’s chest rose and fell, first rapidly and then gradually slower. His arms stayed tightly wrapped around Peter, reminding him of how a child would hold onto a teddy bear. He thought back to the big unicorn and smiled, picturing Wade holding onto it at night the same way he held him. Peter slipped into sleep, feeling warm and safe and  _ loved _ .


	28. Sunday (cont.)

Peter awoke as the sun was settling low on the horizon. Wade’s chest still rose and fell gently under him. Peter let his eyes open, taking a moment to look over Wade’s body as much as he could without moving. The places where the scars were split were starting to look dry and cracked again. Reaching across Wade’s body, he felt around for the tube of medicated lotion Wade had directed him to earlier. Gently, he squeezed some onto Wade’s chest, running his hands all over him. He let his fingers dip into the curves of the scars, massaging the rest of the lotion into the places where it looked the worst. A soft sight fell out of Wade’s mouth and his eyes opened. He watched the way Peter focused on applying the medication that he had never been all too careful about using. The way his hands moved so gently, like he thought Wade was fragile. How long had it been since anyone had treated him like he was something breakable? Had anyone ever thought of him like that?

When Peter finally looked away from Wade’s chest, he noticed bright blue eyes staring back at him. He gave Wade a shy smile. 

“Sorry. It looked like it hurt.” Peter but his lower lip.

Wade smiled. “You don’t need to be sorry for touching me.” His face fell slightly. “I know I’m weird about it, but I promise it’s not you.”

“I’ll just have to do it more so you get used to it.” Peter grinned and moved slightly to give Wade a quick kiss on the lips. He stretched out, pressing his body tight against Wade’s side before sitting up on the edge of the bed. 

Wade turned on his side to face Peter, watching as he walked to the fridge and came back with a couple take out containers. He felt the grin spread across his face. 

“What?” Peter shot him a soft glare. “I planned on sharing.”

“Why Petey,” Wade brought a hand to his chest. “Don’t you know I’m watching my figure?”

Peter rolled his eyes. “I’m glad to see you’re feeling a little better.” He plopped down on the bed again, passing one container to Wade. “I was beginning to think you would be sweet and quiet forever.” He popped a chicken finger in his mouth. “And what fun would that be?” The words came out garbled around the food in his mouth, which made both Wade and himself laugh.

“Don’t you worry, baby boy.” Wade took a bite of an eggroll. “It takes a lot more than some itching to quiet this mouth.”

“Thank God for that.” Peter replied sarcastically, plucking the remaining half of the eggroll out of Wade’s hand and shoving it in his mouth. 

Wade’s eyes went wide. “Peter! I trusted you! How could you?!” His voice feigned hurt, but was also only barely containing laughter. 

Without responding, Peter grabbed another chicken finger and moved to hand it to Wade. Instead of taking it with his hands, Wade leaned forward, eating from Peter’s fingers. The intimacy of such a simple thing made Peter flush bright red. Wade sucking the grease off his fingers didn’t help his case much either. Peter watched the way the older man’s eyes fluttered shut while his tongue rolled around Peter’s fingers. Peter pulled his hand back like it had been burned. Wade just tossed his head back and laughed, which Peter thought he should have found annoying, but actually just found sweet. With a smirk on his face, Wade tipped the container he was holding up to dump it in his mouth. Peter nearly choked on his chicken laughing when nearly half of the lo mein in the container fell onto Wade’s chest. Wade finished chewing what did make it into his mouth with a pout. Peter set his own container down on the bed and leaned forward, bracing himself with his hands on either side of Wade’s chest. He gave Wade a quick smirk and before he could speak, dipped his head down, licking the lo mein noodles off of his chest. He sucked an especially long noodle into his mouth and swallowed it before dipping his head back down to lick the last of the soy sauce off of Wade’s chest.  

“You know, baby boy, Chinese food is one thing I can honestly say I’ve never found sexy before.” Wade’s voice was low and husky.

Peter smiled, sitting back on his heels. “I’m taking that as a compliment.” He popped another chicken finger in his mouth. After he swallowed, Peter shook his head. “I suppose I ought to head home and let you do whatever it is you do when I’m not around.” He paused for a moment. “What is that exactly? I feel like we spend all of our time talking about me.”

“Drinking my feelings, mostly.” Wade laughed nervously. “You should come to the bar sometime.”

“Wade,” Peter gave him a pointed look. “Are you forgetting something?”

Wade blew a raspberry. “No one at St. Mary’s is checking ID and I don’t plan on letting you drink. I met Gwen though, so it’s only fair that you should meet Weas sometime.”

Peter shrugged. “Alright. Maybe not on a school night though?”

“Of course not. What kind of terrible influence do you think I am?” Wade laughed. 

A mischievous look crossed Peter’s face. “Hopefully a bad enough influence to let me kiss you some more.”

“If I never say no to that, assume that I am in mortal peril and must be rescued immediately.” Wade grinned.

Peter moved his legs to rest on either side of Wade’s. His hands trailed lightly down Wade’s cheeks causing him to hiss softly. After a few long seconds of letting his gaze linger on Wade’s face, Peter leaned forward and pressed his lips to Wade’s. He ran his tongue over Wade’s bottom lip. Wade’s hands came up to rest on Peter’s thighs, stroking over them gently. He could feel himself getting hard and knew that there wasn’t going to be any way to hide that fact from Peter. Peter moved his hands to the back of Wade’s neck, lacing his fingers together. Wade let out a soft groan, nipping gently at Peter’s upper lip. Peter responded with a roll of his hips and a sharp whine when he felt Wade’s cock pressing against him. He ground his own hips down against Wade experimentally. Each time his cock pushed against Peter, Wade had to bite back moans. When Peter finally pulled his head back slightly, he kept his forehead pressed against Wade’s, panting heavily. 

“Wade,” Peter’s voice was breathy and forced. “Wade, can I -” He looked down between them.

Wade started to shake his head, “Baby boy, I don’t know if-”

“Please,” Peter interrupted. “Pleasepleaseplease, Wade.” His voice sounded desperate. Like he had been lost in the desert and was begging for water. 

Wade couldn’t find it in him to tell Peter no again, so instead he laid back against the pillows. Peter bit his lip before shifting his weight further down Wade’s leg. He dotted feather-light kisses down Wade’s chest, his hands following close behind his mouth. When he reached the waistband of Wade’s boxers, he paused. He could see his hand shaking when he brought it over the front of the fabric. He could feel his eyes go wide at the size of Wade. He thought, briefly, that he shouldn’t be surprised since everything about Wade was just  **large** , but somehow his brain had never made the connection that that must mean he had a giant cock too. Wade watched Peter’s face and choked out a stutterd moan while his hand was moving over his cock. With a few more gentle strokes, Peter tugged the waistband down to the middle of Wade’s thighs. He heard himself whimper slightly at the sight of Wade’s cock without the fabric in the way. He looked up at Wade, searching for some sort of guidance. Their eyes met and one of Wade’s hands came up to Peter’s cheek, his fingers wrapping around the back of his head. Peter moaned softly, following Wade’s hand as it guided him to lean forward. He opened his mouth, taking on the head in. Wade’s hips jerked slightly. Peter heard the sharp intake of breath when his tongue touched a certain spot on the bottom of the head. He moved his tongue over the same spot again, pressing up slightly. The fingers in his hair gripped slightly, stopping him from taking any more of Wade into his mouth. He whined slightly, looking up at Wade.

If heaven existed, Wade was pretty sure he was there. Peter’s hazel eyes looking up at him with his lips wrapped around his cock was the most beautiful thing Wade had ever seen in his life. The soft whine from this throat vibrated around his cock, sending shivers down his spine. He loosened the hand in Peter’s hair in response, thinking he had been hurting him. Instead, Peter hummed happily, sinking down as far onto Wade’s cock as he could before he gagged. Wade felt the jerk of his throat and started to stroke his hair softly in between moans. He couldn’t remember the last time anyone had given him head and he knew he wasn’t going to last very long, so he decided to enjoy all of it that he could while it lasted. Peter’s mouth was hot and tight around him. He could feel the heat pooling low in his abdomen.

“Baby boy,” Wade panted. 

He tried to gently pull Peter’s head up before he came. Peter hummed slightly, swirling his tongue around the head of Wade’s cock. Wade let out a long, decidedly un-manly whine. His hand at the back of Peter’s head became more frantic. 

“I’m gonna,” He was interrupted by a moan.

Before he could finish his sentence, he felt the waves of his orgasm wash over him. He gripped tightly onto Peter’s hair, the other hand balled up in the sheets. His eyes stayed locked on Peter whose hazel eyes were staring right back up at him, somehow managing to look completely innocent even with a mouthful of cock. Peter watched Wade’s face in shock. He had thought that he was only fumbling around, not doing anything that might get Wade off. When Wade’s cum spurted into his mouth, he paused for a brief moment, committing the taste to memory. He had expected it to be unpleasant, but he found that it just tasted like Wade. Wade saw his throat work when he swallowed his cum and he let out a last, soft whine. Peter lifted his head up with a last lick up the entire length of Wade’s cock. Wade’s hands moved to his waist, pulling him on top of him and into a long kiss. Somehow, it surprised Peter that Wade would be willing to kiss him after he had had his cock in his mouth. He wasn’t sure why that thought was surprising.

“We should do that more often.” Peter sighed. 

Wade looked out the window and saw that it was getting dark. He bit his lip. “You should go home, sweetheart. It’s getting late.”

“I know. Five more minutes.” Peter repeated the words he had said the day before. “Can you sing our song?” He yawned.

Wade smiled. “Of course, baby boy. And then I’ll escort you home. Unsavory characters ride the bus after dark.” He pressed his mouth close to Peter’s ear and sang under his breath. 


	29. Monday

Wade awoke clutching Parker tight to his chest. His bed still smelled like Peter and Chinese food and he swore he was never going to wash those sheets again. He nuzzled into Parker’s fur, imagining that it was Peter’s hair instead. He let out a soft sigh at the thought of one day being so domestic with Peter. The previous day had been the best day that Wade had had in a long time. It made his chest tighten to think that it may not happen again for quite some time. When his bladder finally couldn’t take it anymore, he sat up with an exaggerated groan. He dragged himself out of bed and into the bathroom, grabbing his phone off of his nightstand on the way.

He let himself flop down on the toilet to enjoy his morning poop, scrolling through the news on his phone while he did. As he was reading more absurd news about the president, his phone vibrated in his hand and the first picture Peter had ever sent him appeared on the screen. He smiled slightly, opening the message immediately.

 

**< Peter: Hello gorgeous *kissy emoji*>**

**< Wade: Well this is a nice way to start my day, although I can think of a few better>**

**< Peter: Unfortunately, when your day doesn’t start until noon you have to settle for lunchtime texts>**

**< Wade: So feisty, baby boy *heart eyes emoji*>**

**< Wade: Any big plans today?>**

**< Peter: I have to call Stark when I get out of here and go meet with his HR people.>**

**< Wade: You excited?>**

**< Peter: More like scared shitless>**

**< Wade: Whyyyyy? He loves you>**

**< Peter: Everyone else is just gonna know me as the charity case from Queens though>**

**< Wade: Starks not like that. He comes off a little rough, but trust me, if you were a charity case he would have offered you an internship. Not 80 grand a year>**

**< Peter: He was kidding about that though>**

**< Wade: You’ll find that while Tony spends a lot of time joking, he rarely kids>**

**< Peter: You mean he ACTUALLY wants to pay me that much????>**

**< Wade: Of course he does, silly>**

**< Wade: Why else would he have offered?>**

**< Peter: I’m gonna puke>**

**< Wade: Oh no. *sad emoji*>**

Wade stood up from the toilet and stretched out before turning the shower on. He waited until the water was warm, but didn’t hear anything else from Peter. He hoped that it was just that his lunch was over and not that he had actually thrown up. When he exited his quick shower, there was still no more messages from Peter. Wade threw on a hoodie and a pair of semi-clean jeans and headed out his door. His body autopiloted him to Peter’s bus stop without him noticing, even though he had no idea if Peter would even be taking this bus anymore. He had intended to spend the rest of his day at St. Mary’s waiting to hear how Peter’s formal interview went and catching up with Weasel. 

He could hear the bell ring from where he was leaning against the bus stop shelter and picked his head up to watch the stampede of children spilling out of the building. They all looked so young, especially compared to Peter. Although, when Wade actually thought about it, Peter looked just as young. He just didn’t think of Peter as kid, partially because that would make the constant erections kind of weird and partially because the kid was just so damn smart. He could tell that his face was twisted when he noticed Peter walking toward him looking worried. Before he could do anything about it, though, Peter was running towards him and flinging himself into his arms. Wade wrapped his arms around Peter’s back, lifting him slightly off the ground into a tight hug. He could feel Peter’s body relax into him and in that moment he realized why he had walked to the bus stop to wait for him. 

“Thank you,” Peter’s voice was soft and shaky in his ear. “How did you know I needed you?”

Wade shrugged slightly, arms still wrapped around Peter. “Guess I just knew.”

Peter sighed heavily into Wade’s chest before letting his arms drop. 

“Want Daddy to drop you off for your first day, baby boy?” Wade took a step back, smirking, and tousled Peter’s hair.

Peter stuck his tongue out, glaring at Wade. He couldn’t keep his angry face on for long, though, before it turned into a smile and he was nodding. He took Wade’s hand in his own and for the first time he didn’t feel Wade tense at the unexpected contact. It made Peter smile even more. The weight that had been pressing on his chest felt like it had been lifted. Their usual bus pulled up and the driver seemed to wait an extra moment before Peter shook his head and waved him off with a smile. Peter’s thumb rubbed over the back of Wade’s hand, dipping into the ridges of his scars. 

“Did you put that lotion on this morning?” Peter’s eyebrows knit together.

Wade bit his lip and looked down at his feet. “I may have forgotten.”

“Do you need Daddy to come over and make sure you take your medicine?” Peter’s tone was playful, but his words still made heat rise in Wade’s cheeks and his jaw drop. At the look on Wade’s face, Peter couldn’t help but burst out laughing. Before Wade’s brain could catch up with his body, he had pulled Peter in close to him and pressed their lips together. Peter’s mouth was soft against his, but the hand holding his tightened slightly as if to keep them together. Wade brought his free hand up to the side of Peter’s face, stroking over his cheek. 

“Get a room,” a voice called out from the street.

Peter spun on his heels, furious. “Who the fuck do you-” His eyes went wide. “Mr. Stark, I’m so sorry.” He put his hand over his mouth.

Wade burst out laughing behind him. “So feisty, Pete.”

Tony shook his head. “Get in loser, we’re going shopping.”

Peter looked confused, but Wade continued to laugh. “What are you even doing in high school if you do not get that reference?” Wade nudged Peter towards the car. 

“Loverboy can’t come though. There will be no hanky panky in my car.”

Peter turned around and gave Wade a quick kiss on the lips. It was a small gesture, but it made Wade’s heart soar. Not only was Peter comfortable kissing him, he was comfortable kissing him in public. “I’m going to text you to remind you to do the thing later.” He called over his shoulder as he sat down on Tony’s passenger seat.

Wade saluted him lazily before plopping down on the bench under the bus stop shelter to wait and catch the next bus down to St. Mary’s. 


	30. Monday (cont.)

“So, talk to me kiddo,” Tony looked over at Peter from the driver’s seat. 

Peter cocked his head to one side. “Uh… Well, I finally finished listening to that podcast you did about arc reactors. It was a lot different knowing what you plan on using them for. Puts a whole different tone to the whole thing.”

Tony nodded along. “But…?”

“But why don’t you tell people about it?” Peter ran a hand through his hair. “I mean, everyone loves helping wounded veterans.”

“There’s the million dollar question.” Tony replied. “Why would we need to keep that on lockdown?”

Peter scrunched his eyebrows together. “I don’t know.”

“And I can’t tell you.” Tony laughed. “Not until your contract is signed anyway.” He shot a glance over at Peter. “Listen, kid. I’m not going to ask you to do anything unsavory, okay? Don’t look so worried.”

“Sorry,” Peter mumbled. “Just thinking hard.”

“So that’s your thinking face?” Tony smiled. “I’ll be sure to commit it to memory so I know when to prod and when to wait.”

Peter sighed. “What is it you want me to be working on?”

“About time you asked.” Tony said, laughing. “What do you want to work on?”

“Bionics.” The word was out before Peter even had time to think.

“I’ve looked at your grades and your research papers, kiddo.” Tony’s voice was suddenly serious. “You can work on anything you want. You could throw something out there that I haven’t even thought of, I’ll give you a grant and a lab.” 

“How did you read my research papers?” Peter gave Tony a confused look. 

Tony gave Peter a look that seemed to say ‘ _ really?’ _ before he spoke. “You use cloud storage for everything.”

Peter’s jaw dropped. “You hacked into my cloud storage?”

“Hack is a strong word.” Tony chuckled. “I prefer the term ‘viewed items stored on my servers.’”

“You-” Peter stuttered as his brain caught up with you. “You bought LiveDrive.”

“There ya go.” Tony nodded. “Putting the pieces together. By the way, you’re getting an encrypted employee account. Stark Industries makes no claims over the ideas of its employees, but if we get to the point of mass marketing we can work something out and I don’t want anyone else having access to that big brain of yours.”

Peter squinted slightly. “Uh, thanks.”

“And here we are.” Tony turned off the road into a parking garage across the street from Stark Tower. “Home sweet home.”

Peter stepped out of the car, looking around at the packed garage. He followed Tony towards an elevator, stopping when he heard a loud noise from behind them. He turned just in time to see Tony’s car being lowered into the ground and a new slab of pavement replacing it. 

“Cool, right?” Tony smirked. 

Peter looked back up at him. “Where does it go?”

Tony chuckled. “Batcave, obviously,” and started walking back towards the elevator.

Trotting along to catch up, Peter tried to look at the empty spots in the garage for any sort of hint about whether they all did that or not. He couldn’t see any seams or mechanical components, but he hadn’t seen any at the first one either. Stepping onto the elevator behind Tony, he saw that there were no buttons in it. He gave Tony a look of confusion and awe.

“Jarvis?” Tony said. Peter looked around for another person or a speaker box. “Take us to wherever Pepper is.”

“75th Floor.” A voice echoed through the small space. “She is currently in your office waiting for you, sir.”

“On a scale of one to ten, how mad is she?” 

“Four, sir.” The voice answered.

Tony nodded. “Excellent.” The elevator started moving, to Peter’s surprise.

“Is that your assistant?” Peter cocked his head to one side?

“Jarvis?” Tony said in a confused tone. “Oh no, he’s the AI that controls the tower. My crowning achievement if I do say so myself. Started out controlling my bedroom and look at him now.”

“You haven’t tried to market that?” Peter tried to hide the surprise in his voice. 

Tony shook his head. “The world doesn’t need access to Jarvis. Even I don’t know how he works sometimes. I have him access to information and what he has done with it is astounding. A constant experiment.”

“What do you mean?”

Tony shrugged slightly. “I programmed him, sure. But once he was hooked up to the internet and allowed to learn he kind of grew up on his own.”

“And you’re just okay with that? What if he, like, decides to take over the world or something?”

“Jarvis?” Tony laughed.

“Yes sir,” the AI responded. 

“Have you been feeling at all homicidal lately?” Tony clutched his stomach, laughing uncontrollably.

There was a pause. “No sir, I am not feeling inclined to murder.”

“See?” Tony turned to Peter, wiping at his eyes. “Totally fine.”

Peter shook his head slightly. The door to the elevator opened to a large lobby with an empty desk facing them. Tony stepped out first, leading Peter through one of the doors behind the desk into what Peter assumed to be his own office. Pepper stood, looking a slightly annoyed, leaning against Tony’s desk. 

“Nice of you to join us, Tony.” She smiled. “And so good to see you again, Peter.” She stood up and walked over to them, giving Peter a quick hug. “There’s a few drives of files on your desk that need seeing to.” She spoke to Tony again. “I’m going to take Peter down to get him into the system and give him his card.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Tony saluted her with mock respect. 

Pepper rolled her eyes. “Come on with me, Peter. I’ll show you around.”


	31. Monday (cont.)

Wade waltzed into St. Mary’s like he was walking on air. He didn’t bother trying to hide the broad smile on his face. 

“Gone the whole weekend and you come struttin on in here like that? You finally get laid?” Weasel called across the bar. 

Wade sat down on his usual stool. “Oh the stories I could tell, Weas.” He laughed.

“Get to it then!” Weasel dropped a bottle in front of him. “Does this have anything to do with your little jailbait obsession?”

Wade nodded, tossing back the bottle and taking a deep swig. “I asked him to come to that military dinner on Saturday.”

“Like as your date? An official date? Where other people could see you?” Weasel looked surprised. 

“Just like that.”

Weasel held his hands out to his sides in exasperation. “So?! How did it go?”

“I sucked his dick.”

“Attaboy! I always knew you had it in you to give a little before you get.”

Wade took another deep drink. “Yesterday he sucked mine.”

“So it went well, then!”

“He’s got a job with Stark.”

“Wade Wilson, if I didn’t know better I would think you were moving up in the world.”

Wade shrugged slightly. “He is. I dunno about me. He’s gonna grow up, Weas. He’s gonna realize he doesn’t wanna waste all his time with an old, fucked up nutcase.”

“Wade,” Weasel’s voice softened. “Do you really believe that?”

“Yes.” Wade shook his head. “No. I don’t know.”

“I need to meet this kid.”

Wade nodded again. “I told him I want him to meet you. You can’t let him drink though. I’m a bad enough influence without turning him into a drunk too.”

“Scout’s honor.” Weasel put his hand over his heart. “Now enough sad shit. Let’s hear about these blowjobs. But like… Leave out the gory details, okay? I love you, bro, but that’s a little too far.”

“He came over yesterday cause my skin cracked again.”

“How many times have you done that to yourself now? You never learn. Just put the shit on.”

Wade shrugged. “He did it for me.”

“What a sweet little babe.”

“And he took a nap with me. Didn’t even puke when he woke up.”

“All good things. What are you so worried about, man?”

Wade glared down at the bottle. “He deserves better than me.”

“Have you asked him what he wants?”

A surprised look came across Wade’s face.

Weasel continued. “You keep talking about what he deserves. Have you asked him what he  _ wants.” _

“Sort of.” Wade shrugged. When Weasel didn’t reply, he continued. “We played a game of truth or dare. I asked him where he wanted this to go. He said something like a wedding, an apartment, and two little dogs. He couldn’t have been serious though.”

“And why not?”

“He’s just a kid, Weas. A fucking brilliant one, but still a kid.” He chewed his lip. “What if he does stay and ten years from now he realizes he wasted his youth on some loser who peaked in the army when he was killing people by the dozens?”

“You really should just talk to him about this.” Weasel pulled the half-empty bottle away. “Any maybe it’s time to stop drinking so much, huh? As much as I’ll miss the business, you were so happy when you walked in here. Now look at you.”

Wade shrugged and continued to sit at the bar in silence until he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He pulled it out and felt himself smile broadly when he saw that Peter was texting him.

 

**< Peter: This is so cool! The garage has a secret lair underneath it and the AI is totally the smartest thing I’ve ever seen. Tony was really nice and Pepper is showing me around the tower and there’s so MUCH STUFF HERE!>**

**< Wade: Shhh, they’ve probably got your phone bugged already. *wink emoji*>**

**< Peter: I have to sign an NDA about the stuff I work on for Stark but he said he wants to give me time to work on my own stuff IN HIS LABS! Do you have any idea what people would give to have access to Stark’s labs? He has literally the best equipment in the world and then some!>**

**< Wade: I’m gonna pretend that I understand what any of this actually means>**

**< Peter: Can I come see you when I’m out of here? Pepper says we should be done by like 5 and May won’t be home til 11 and I’m so excited I can’t wait to tell you all about it>**

**< Wade: Sure thing, baby boy. I’m at the bar right now. You can come here and meet Weas if you want or I can meet you at my place>**

**< Peter: Which one is closer? I’ll be done here in like 20 minutes and I can’t wait>**

**< Wade: Bar is closer. I’ll send an Uber to pick you up.>**

**< Peter: OMG OMG OMG *heart eyes emoji* I get my OWN keycard to get into the tower after hours! And they’re assigning me a  dorm with the interns just in case I’m working late and don’t want to take the bus home!>**

**< Wade: See you soon, doll. Tell me all about it. *kissy emoji*>**

 

“Looks like you get to meet the kid sooner than you thought,” Wade called out across the bar to Weasel. “He’ll be here in about half an hour.”

“No wonder you look like you just saw an angel.” Weasel laughed.

Wade got up and walked outside, leaning against the cold brick building to wait for Peter to show up to the bar. When he saw him bounce out of a cab, he felt the giant smile spread across his face. Peter pranced over to him, throwing his arms around Wade’s neck. Wade turned his face slightly to nuzzle into Peter’s hair. 

“Is that a knife in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?” Wade mumbled in Peter’s ear. He ran a hand down the smaller boy’s back. 

Peter giggled, dropping down from his tiptoes to look up at Wade with a mischievous look in his eye. “Wouldn’t you like to find out?”

Wade shook his head slightly. “You coming or what?” He nodded towards the door to the bar. “Weasel wants to meet you.”

“Lead the way.” Peter linked arms with Wade, allowing himself to be led into the bar.

The bar smelled like a foot. A bloody foot. Belonging to an elderly alcoholic. There was no other way for Peter to describe it. He wondered if all bars smelled like that, but decided that most bars probably smelled like shitty cologne. He preferred the foot. It seemed like all eyes in the room were on him, but Wade either didn’t notice or didn’t care. He sat down on his usual barstool, but there were no other spaces open at the bar. Peter shrugged slightly and sat down sideways on Wade’s lap. He could feel Wade grinning into the side of his neck when he pressed a soft kiss there. It made his cheeks flush even more red than they already were and he knew that everyone was staring at them after that. 

“Weas!” Wade’s voice barked out across the bar. “C’mere!”

The bartender made his way over to them. He seemed like a decent guy, especially compared to his clientele. Peter assumed that this must be Wade’s best friend that he had heard about. 

“Weasel,” Wade gestured to the bartender. “Meet Peter.” His arms came back to wrap around Peter’s waist. 

Weasel smiled and, to Peter, it seemed genuine. “Nice to finally meet you.” He held a hand out and shook Peter’s. “Wade talks about you basically nonstop.”

Peter felt the smile spread across his face. “And here I was thinking my love was unrequited.” 

“I like him already,” Weasel laughed. 

Wade chuckled low in Peter’s ear, sending a shiver down his spine. 

“Don’t know what you see in this guy though,” Weasel spoke to Peter and gestured to Wade. 

Peter’s eyebrows pinched together. “Washboard abs and giant biceps.” He snapped sarcastically.

“Feisty little bean!” Weasel laughed again.

Wade nodded enthusiastically, his head resting against Peter’s chest. “You should’ve seen him break a kid’s nose at Coney Island!”

Peter blushed deeply. “He deserved it.” His voice was so soft Wade and Weasel could barely hear him.

“God damn right he did.” Weasel agreed.

Wade shrugged slightly.

“You should meet my friend, Gwen.” Peter looked up at Weasel. “I think you’d like her.”

“I like this one already, Wade! Trying to set me up on a date?”

Peter smiled. “Something like that. Although you two together would probably mean trouble for us.”

“Why’s that?” Wade piped up.

“Because Gwen has been a worm in my ear about us  _ moving things along  _ since the day I started swooning over you in my work break room.”

“Excuse me, back up.” Wade waved a hand. “Swooning? At work? And when was this?”

Peter bit his bottom lip. “The day I met you.”

“Oh my God, get a room.” Weasel tossed a bar rag at them. “And also get me her number.”

Wade and Peter both laughed. They spent another hour sitting at the bar talking about how Peter’s meeting with Tony had gone, with Wade absolutely enthralled by everything Peter was saying even though he understood exactly none of it. When Peter’s yawns started becoming more frequent, though, Wade insisted that they take their leave. He called a cab and rode with Peter to his house, giving him a chaste kiss before sending him off to bed.


End file.
